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http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp204-us13/2013/07/20/shamans-in-the-steppes-of-mongolia/

The Horse Boy is a film that follows a family on a journey from their home in Texas to the steppes of Mongolia in an attempt to seek the healing powers of shaman for their autistic son, Rowan.

The shaman healers are apparently people who had similar mental "disorders" and who were ushered in their position. They don’t seem to have the power of a leader, but are respected by the tribal societies. Their treatments rely on different rituals, such as symbolic washings, dance and finding connections to trouble in the patient’s family lines. Shamen consider the mind and spirit more so in their treatments then they do the body itself.

http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat55/sub350/item1919.html

SHAMANISM IN SIBERIA AND MONGOLIA

Shamanism is still practiced in Russia, particularly in the Lake Baikal area of southern Siberia near the Mongolian border and in the middle Volga regions. The word Shamanism comes from Siberia.

Shaman have traditionally been important religious figures and healers among many Siberian peoples. The word “shaman” comes to us from the Tungus language via Russian. In Siberia shaman have traditionally been called upon to heal the sick, solve problems, protect groups from hostile spirts, make predictions and mediate between the spiritual world and human world and guide dead souls to the afterlife.

The Soviets tried to discredit shaman by characterizing them as greedy quacks. Many were exiled, imprisoned or even killed. Few true ones remain.