Shamanism is probably humankind's oldest healing tradition having survived for tens of thousands of years. Because of their psychological techniques, shames are sometimes described as the world's first psychologists and psychotherapists, shamans are often confused with other healing practitioners such as priests, mediums, and with doctors and do in fact often fill these roles.

However, they can be distinguished and defined as practitioners whose activities include a method of gaining information by voluntarily entering alternate states of consciousness in which they experience themselves, or their "Spirits", traveling to other realms at will, and there obtaining information and power with which to benefit others.