Author Description

In this thought-provoking book of cultural interpretation, a renowned psychoanalyst gives a fascinating account of the many ways in which India's healing traditions deal with emotional problems.Drawing on three years of intensive fieldwork and his own psychoanalytic training, the author takes the reader on a journey through healing temples, consultation rooms of Vaids, meeting with shamans, tantric and gurus of mystical cults.With extraordinary sympathy, open-mindedness, and insights the author shows how the gulf that divides native healer from western psychiatrist can be spanned.COMMENT:a fascinating and thought-provoking book. That the descriptions of the people and healers do come alive is due not only to the author's psychological acumen but also to the grace, clarity and style with which he writes. - - Psychoanalytic Quarterly