In a fantastic comment on my latest blogpost in this mini-series looking at the innate and largely unspoken sensuality of physical therapy, Eric Kruger posted up a video from Youtube which shows Ken Cole and Rajesh Khemraj in a tutorial looking at the SI Joint at a 2014 NAIOMT Annual General Meeting (link to the original post and Youtube video here). In the comment, Eric concentrated on the question of the power asymmetry that exists in therapeutic practice. I wanted to extend this discussion on a little here, so iIf you haven't read it already, I strongly advise looking at it before reading on. Lets take a moment to deconstruct the video Eric posted up a little. Here we have three … [Read more...] about Touching on something important
Critical physiotherapy research update
Depression embodied: an ambiguous striving against fading Louise Danielsson and Susanne Rosberg Although depression is associated to physical discomfort, meanings of the body in depression are rarely addressed in clinical research. Drawing on the concept of the lived body, this study explores depression as an embodied phenomenon. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, the analysis of narrative-based interviews with 11 depressed adults discloses a thematic structure of an embodied process of an ambiguous striving against fading. Five subthemes elicit different dimensions of this process, interpreted as disabling or enabling: feeling estranged, feeling confined, feeling … [Read more...] about Critical physiotherapy research update
New book – Feeling pleasures: The sense of touch in Renaissance England
There has been a lot more interest in the philosophy of touch in recent years. Books like Constance Classen's Book of Touch have raised the bar on scholarship in this area (also see Classen's 'Centre for Sensory Studies' at Concordia Uni). A lot of interest has focused on the meaning of touch; something I've been interested in as a historian and philosopher of physiotherapy (link). Now a new book has been published by OUP that looks really interesting and well worth a read if you are interested in attitudes towards touch over time. Feeling Pleasures: Sense of Touch in Renaissance England Joe Moshenska The sense of touch had a deeply uncertain status in the sixteenth and … [Read more...] about New book – Feeling pleasures: The sense of touch in Renaissance England
From Sociology of Health and Illness, Volume 36, Issue 6, July 2014
Touching moments: phenomenological sociology and the haptic dimension in the lived experience of motor neurone disease Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson and Amanda Pavey Keywords: motor neurone disease; phenomenological sociology; Merleau-Ponty; the senses; touch and the haptic Abstract Currently, there is a relative research lacuna in phenomenological research into the lived experience of motor neurone disease. Based on a sociological research project in the UK, involving 42 participants diagnosed with MND, this article explores the potential of a phenomenological sociology for analysing experiences of this drastically life-limiting neurological disorder. Calls have … [Read more...] about From Sociology of Health and Illness, Volume 36, Issue 6, July 2014