book chapter

Elements of psychotherapy in Navaho religion

Psychiatry4Published In 1941 • Pages: 515-523

By: Leighton, Alexander H. (Alexander Hamilton), Leighton, Dorothea Cross.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The authors, both psychiatrists and students of the Navajo, analyzed a typical Navajo healing ceremony and point out its many psychotherapeutic elements. They urged that Euro-American medical personnel study and make use of the Navajo point of view toward healing. Instead of regarding the medicine man as a quack witchdoctor, they propose that Euro-American doctors include him in their treatment of the ill. Thus, the Leightons believed, Euro-American medicine would be more readily acceptable to the Navajo who would, at the same time, have the psychological assistance of his own religion. The material in this article was greatly expanded in the authors' book THE NAVAHO DOOR, 3: Leighton and Leighton in this file.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Acculturation and culture contact
Music
Shamans and psychotherapists
Medical therapy
Religious experience
Organized ceremonial
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Navajo
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2004
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Southwest and Basin
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
book chapter
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Psychiatrist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
3: Good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Katchen S. Coley ; 1951
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1870-1940
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Navajo reservation, southwestern United States
NotesAdditional notes
Alexander H. Leighton and Dorothea C. Leighton
This document consists of excerpts
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
40007255
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Navajo Indians