Introduction
Bali is an island whose very name evokes images of paradise. The physical beauty of the land and the magnificence of the Balinese culture is singular and deserving of both respect and praise. There is, however, a darker side to this island and its people. The inhabitants of Bali are often idealized. Nonetheless, they are prone to the same existential problems as to the rest of humanity. One of these afflictions is mental illness which presents itself in a variety of forms. This might seem a contradiction for those who would like to believe only what they read in travel brochures. Yet, mental illness in Bali is a reality that must be faced. This book conveys the story of Denny Thong, M.D., a native of Bangka, another small Indonesian island off the northern coast of west Java. For nearly two decades, Dr. Thong was responsible for directing, in the town of Bangli, the only mental hospital in Bali. This was the setting for his creation of a program of mental health care that was quite modern, yet which integrated certain aspects of traditional Balinese healing systems. It is a unique story because Bali is a unique island, and Dr. Thong is a man singularly capable of finding an interface between allopathic medicine, traditional Balinese culture, and folk healing practices. The Generation of an Idea We met Dr. Thong in 1985 while leading a group of American mental health practitioners around Indonesia, that immense and often overlooked Southeast Asian nation of nearly 14,000 islands. The overriding purpose of the tour, which had been organized by the Saybrook Institute Graduate School in San Francisco, was to meet with representatives of the archipelago's rich native healing traditions. As an expert on this subject, and as director of the Bangli Mental Hospital, Dr. Thong was one of the first persons with whom we made contact. During that initial meeting, we were impressed both by Dr. Thong's modesty and by his enthusiasm which seemed contagious. It was apparent that Dr. Thong was passionately involved in his work. He was also a capable story teller with many experiences to relate and a vast knowledge in a geographical and cultural area that has yet to be adequately explored by Western medicine and science. During the next few years it was the good fortune of one of us (Carpenter) to discuss the topic of native Balinese healing frequently with Dr. Thong. We had been studying native healers in other cultures and found Dr. Thong to be a storehouse of valuable information. In addition, he was a popular physician who introduced Carpenter to several healers around Bali. In 1986, while leading another group under the auspices of the Institute of Noetic Sciences of Sausalito, Carpenter generated the idea of asking Dr. Thong for his professional and scientific essays, both in English and in Indonesian, so that we could evaluate them for a possible book-length publication. We were delighted with the importance of these articles as well as with the keen powers of observation and insight that they revealed. Meantime, other forces were at work. Dr. Thong was unexpectedly transferred to the island of Sulawesi in 1987. While this was a disturbing event, he tried to make the best of the situation. For example, his new position gave him a certain amount of leisure for the first time in many years. Before long, Carpenter received a bulky package in the mail. It was the manuscript of this book, and it recounts the remarkable odyssey of Dr. Thong during his time on the remarkable island of Bali. We have supplemented this book with three appendices containing descriptions of several Balinese healers and one Sulawesian healer, and a description of Balinese mythology as it impacted the creative development of an artist we interviewed in Bali. We have also included a glossary of unusual terms in Balinese, Dutch, English, Indonesian, Torajan, and Sanskrit used in this book. Initiating an Interface In our opinion, this book is important for several reasons. First, it provides an intimate view of a non-western allopathic medical practitioner at work. It recounts the struggle of a developing country to deal with allopathic medicine, an approach to healing that originated in a different historical and cultural setting. Unlike many other traditional cultures which have faced similar circumstances, Bali has managed to preserve much of the fabric of its native culture despite the onslaught of tourism and the influence of modernity.
About The Author
Denny Thong, M.D., is a physician and psychiatrist who was the Director of Bangli Mental Hospital in Bali for nearly two decades. He is the author of many important articles on traditional healers and healing practices in Bali. Born on the island of Billiton off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, Thong has won several awards for his work in the mental health field, especially in recognition of his attempts to integrate traditional healing practices with modern health care procedures. He has placed a special emphasis on understanding and respecting the cultural norms of native people so as to avoid alienating them and discouraging them from utilizing health facilities. Thong currently directs a mental health hospital on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi where he lives with his wife and four children.
About The Book
A Psychiatrist in Paradise tells the story of a most remarkable attempt by an Indonesian doctor trained in Western medicine. and in charge of a Western-style hospital in Bali, in Indonesia, to use traditional healing practices in the treatment of mental illness. Bali, idealized by many as the archetypal island paradise, has its fair share of mental illness and, within its traditional culture, has developed ways of dealing with such illness that are significantly different from those traditionally espoused by Western medicine-but which are now beginning to gain sup-port in the West. For nearly two decades Dr. Denny Thong strove to integrate modern (Western) health care systems with Balinese customs, decentralizing treatment to the villages, reorganizing the hospi-tal to become a focal point of the community and, most contro-versially, utilizing the services of traditional healers. Why Dr. Thong was transferred from Bali just at the time when many of his innovations appeared to be showing signs of success is not entirely clear. Dr. Thong closely studied the ways in which the traditional healers worked, and his survey of the healers and his descriptions and analyses of their procedures add immeasurably to our knowledge of the subject. This book resulted from the meeting of Dr. Thong with the two American co-authors, Bruce Carpenter and Dr. Stanley Krippner, who persuaded him to tell his story. They provide introductory and background materials and, in three appendices contribute their own findings on Balinese traditional healers.
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