All of us feel we have “priority in self-definition”, in other words, we all get to tell our own story first. These stories are important tools we use to navigate through the world, and when those stories clash with how we fit into others’ stories, even in a medical context, the results can be personally devastating.
At first glance, calling a story a “form of accounting” seems awfully mundane. On the other hand, it’s very descriptive. The accounting for/of the activity is not the actual activity: it’s a kind of summary, a high-level overview of everything which actually occurred. A little like a financial report, everything in this account has a […]
Story-in-Place is a workshop to give healthcare providers a forum tell their stories during the COVID-19 crisis. The session will be online on April 11, 2020 at 2pm Pacific. Registration is free. We’re living through a crisis and a profound shared experience. Healthcare providers and related fields are on the front lines. One of the […]
How do we understand our own illness, and how does it affect us? When a patient is ill, how can healthcare professionals—especially nurses—help shape a positive understanding of what is happening? In the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, J. A. Aloi discusses techniques to help patients edit their own story. Although focused on mental health, […]
This November, the Thursday Reviews will be dedicated to some of the literature available on Resilience and Burnout. We’ll be examining how storytelling and narrative are essential to healthcare providers’ well-being.Nov. 2 | Nov. 9 | Nov. 16 | Wed., Nov. 22 | Nov. 30 “What’s my motivation?” It’s a simple questions at the heart […]
The Examined Life Conference is a gathering for the medical humanities hosted by The University of Iowa’s Carver College of Medicine. The conference is focused mainly on the intersection of writing and medicine, and is cross-pollinated with the literary chops of organizations like The Iowa Writers’ Workshop and The Iowa Review. Dr. David Thoele, the […]
Telling a story is good for your health In the Journal of Clinical Psychology, James W. Pennebaker and Janel D. Seagal study a group of students instructed to write about a traumatic experience, and then measure both the mental and physical health outcomes of those students. The results were measured against a control group, who […]
