Cross-Cultural Musical Healing Practices: Egocentric and Sociocentric Approaches

Abstract

The maintenance of health and healing when illness arises can be approached from different perspectives, apparent in diverse healing practices around the world. One system of healthcare delivery that has occupied a powerful position due to its origins in dominating countries is the western medical perspective. The development of the western viewpoint of disease resulted from an emphasis on observations and the sciences, such as chemistry and biology, which are constantly changing in the body during various stages ofhealth and illness. This perspective has enabled the broadening of knowledge about physiological processes of the body and the development of incredible technological and pharmaceutical medical interventions. However, in viewing the human body as a center for cause and effect with biological processes and chemical interactions, traditional western medicine has set up the approach of separating the body from the mind and physical characteristics from the emotional and spiritual characteristics in the prevention and treatment of sickness.