Uyghur traditional medicine

Domain XI · Traditional medicine & indigenous healing · Xinjiang (Hotan), China

What it is

Uyghur traditional medicine (Uyghur tibabiti; Chinese 维吾尔医) is a codified humoral medical system of the Uyghur people of Xinjiang. Reviews describe it as sharing its source with ancient Greek-Arab medicine. Through Silk Road exchange it absorbed elements of Chinese, Arabic, Persian and Indian…

Format

• This is a codified medical system, not a psychotherapy. The framework below has two layers. (A) is the system's own clinical sequence as its official guidelines publish it, given so the therapist understands what the client is undergoing. (B) is the psychotherapist's own course of work alongside it.
• Staged treatment. The vitiligo guideline sets out four stages: (1) a maturing stage (成熟剂, munziq) that 'matures' the abnormal humour; (2) an evacuating stage (清除剂, mushil) that clears it; (3) a stage of targeted medicines; (4) consolidation of natural vitality and organ function. The same…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Emotional regulation. The guideline includes a section on helping patients keep a stable mood and build confidence. It recommends counselling for patients and families who are anxious about the disease or distrust treatment. This is a natural point of contact for a psychotherapist.
• Licensing (as reported in 2013). Practitioners sit a licensing exam to qualify as full doctors. The exam is run by the Chinese and Traditional Medicine Management Office of Xinjiang's Department of Health. Only full doctors may open clinics and train new practitioners, and a lower-level assistant-doctor exam also exists. Since 2000 the full-doctor exam has had a Chinese-only section, which Uyghur-educated candidates…
• Training and institutions. Training institutions include a college of Uyghur medicine in Khotan and a Uyghur medicine department at Xinjiang Medical University.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• The client being overruled. Splitting between providers. It is working when the family supports the agreed plan.
• Wound infection, burns, dizziness. Reluctance to report a practitioner. It is working when the client gets medical review where needed.
• Cultural stereotyping on one side, and minimising real harm on the other. It is working when the child is safe and the family stays engaged.
• Lumping Uyghur medicine in with TCM. Assuming the client is religious, or isn't. Political assumptions in either direction. It is working when the client corrects you freely.
• Guardedness when an interpreter is present. Interpreters who editorialise on politics or medicine. It is working when the client's account grows richer in their chosen language.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.