Shamanic healing is a relationship-based practice that involves making changes in “invisible realms” to impact a person’s health and wellbeing in ordinary reality. It operates on the principle that illness—whether physical, mental, or emotional—often stems from underlying spiritual or energetic issues.

The process generally functions through the following stages and mechanisms:

1. The Two Phases of Healing

Shamanic healing works in two distinct phases:

• Diagnosis: The practitioner must accurately identify the seen and unseen energies at the root of the problem. This often starts with a practical interview to discuss symptoms, their severity, and the patient’s medical history.
• Choreography of Energies: The practitioner carries out specific actions to resolve the energetic imbalance, either by removing energies that are inappropriately present or returning energies that have been lost.

2. Altered States and the Shamanic Journey

To perform these healings, practitioners enter voluntary, ecstatic trance states to alter their consciousness. In many traditions, such as core shamanism, this is facilitated by monotonous drumming, which allows the practitioner to “journey” to non-ordinary reality. During this journey, the shaman interacts with spirits, power animals, and spirit teachers to obtain the specific knowledge or power required for the healing.

3. Core Healing Techniques

Practitioners use various methods to restore harmony within the individual:

• Extraction Healing: Removing foreign energies or obstacles that interfere with a person’s wellbeing.
• Soul Retrieval: Returning “soul energy” or lost parts of the self that may have been displaced due to trauma or illness.
• Restoring Energy Flow: Because many problems are seen as “dammed up” flows of energy, healings often focus on restoring the circulation and movement of energy throughout the body.
• Divination: Accessing information from the invisible realms to provide pragmatic solutions to everyday life challenges.

4. Tools and Integration

Practitioners often use physical tools to move energy and clear resistance, such as drums, rattles, and may also use traditional healing songs, whistling, or humming.

Once the energetic work is done, the process moves into integration. This is a period where the individual must adjust to the shift in internal energies, often requiring support from the practitioner or the community to process the change. Shamanic healing is generally viewed as a multidisciplinary approach that is fully compatible with conventional medicine and other integrative treatments.