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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Taile, the traditional healer: a psychologist's view of healing in a Northern Sotho community
Author:Sodi, TholeneISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:Indilinga: African Journal of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (ISSN 1683-0296)
Volume:8
Issue:2
Pages:127-137
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:traditional medicine
psychology
healers
Abstract:Western psychological theories tend to focus mainly on the individual. Western-based psychotherapy, therefore, may not be appropriate for persons from a sociocentric cultural milieu, like most African cultures. Based on interviews with one Sotho-speaking traditional healer - a 55-year old woman from a village in the Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa -, this article explores the institution of traditional healing. The traditional healer was interviewed using the phenomenological interviewing method. The objectives of the study are to identify the psychological elements that are associated with traditional healing; to provide a psychological interpretation of the healing procedures that are used in traditional healing; and to identify and describe the steps followed in traditional healing. In conclusion, the article calls for more studies to investigate this alternative form of health care in view of its great potential in the treatment of mental illness and other ailments in indigenous African communities. Bibliogr., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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