Can religious cults be therapeutic? Does therapy just imply thatthe patient gets relief, or does it enable him to cope with his ownimbalance? Do certain traumas result from conflicts with kin, orfrom ritual transgressions, specific to the culture? Thesequestions concern the relation of the individual to his culture,and the imagery of the person to that of illness and mentaldisturbance. The contributors to this volume draw on anthropologyas well as psychotherapy in their case studies from South andSouth-East Asia. Possession, in various forms, is at the core ofsuch healing rituals. The analyses presented show that there is acommon social idiom of illness. The interpretation of the healer issometimes based on a social memory about illness or abnormalbehaviour. The healing process implies power relationship andinduces the patient to act out his symptoms. While somecontributors keep the dimension of the person with its trauma asthe focus of their interpretation, others prefer to considerpossession as a cultural mechanism stemming from ritual expression.The therapeutic value of possession is acknowledged though somecontributors focus on its symbolic efficacy rather than on thesystem of thought behind it. Exploring multiple therapy systems,including allopathy, astrology and exorcism, this book shows thathealing rituals allow communication between cultural codes.Acculturation may play a crucial role both as a source of disorderand a way of restoring harmony.