ABSTRACT
Over the past quarter century, Western psychiatry has undergone significant transformation from a profession predicated largely on psychoanalytic thought to one that draws heavily on the success and apparent scientific authority of modern medicine (Ingleby, 1980). As a result of its new stature as a legitimate medical discipline, Western psychiatry has bolstered its eminence among the many professionals engaged in the treatment of psychological distress. The power of the biomedical model has elevated the influence of psychiatry in the Western world, and that influence reverberates around the globe, challenging indigenous nonWestern understandings of mind and healing (Maser, Kaelber, & Weise, 1991).
