Two articles published over the last two weeks suggest that we might be having some problems talking to our patients. The first, by Sullivan, Hebron and Vuoskoski (Sullivan, Hebron, & Vuoskoski, 2019) looks at the anxiety experienced by physiotherapists ‘selling’ their own explanations of chronic pain to patients. The therapists were trying to be patient-centred, but their efforts were undermined by ‘an underlying paternalistic wish to get patients “on board”’ (ibid). The authors attribute this anxiety to the confidence that the therapists feel in their biomedical understanding for pain, coming up against the patient’s values and beliefs that either contradict or destabilise their … [Read more...] about Having trouble talking to your patients?
What brings someone to the Critical Physiotherapy Network?
A few weeks ago we celebrated one year in the life of our little network and our 300th member. Since our inception we've received countless emails from people saying how glad they are that the network exists, and how nice it is that it's being run by such attractive, intelligent and wise people! (They're particularly complementary about our attractiveness). In all seriousness, it does seem as if the network is an idea whose time has come. Maybe there are enough physiotherapists now with the confidence and experience to tackle some of the thorny questions that now beset us? Maybe knowing that there are other people who think 'differently' has given people encouragement to join in? … [Read more...] about What brings someone to the Critical Physiotherapy Network?
I love superstitions – Oscar Wilde (and here's why)
“Bring something incomprehensible into the world!” ― Gilles Deleuze, Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia Founded in the 1880s by Manhattan rationalists, the 13 Club held a regular dinner on the 13th of each month, seating 13 members at each table deliberately to laugh at superstition. “I have given some attention to popular superstitions, and let me tell you that argument is powerless against them,” founding member Daniel Wolff told journalist Philip Hubert in 1890. “They have a grip upon the imagination that nothing but ridicule will lessen.” As an example he cited the tradition that the mirrors must be removed from a room in which a corpse is lying. “Make the experiment … [Read more...] about I love superstitions – Oscar Wilde (and here's why)