I just discovered this piece via some Substack byway, Josh, and find myself deeply appreciating your insights and thoughtfulness. "We must see our context; we must know our story." Beautiful.
In my own work with clients in a non-medicalized setting, I often encounter very real exasperation or grief over why a particular medical specialist doesn't have the answer for a client's experience of poor health, and often it comes down to the clinical markers looking normal despite the client's experience and the practitioner perhaps either being too busy or too reliant on the numbers to hear and acknowledge the validity of anecdotal experience. On the flip side, I've worked with people who are equally exasperated because a specific clinical marker has been used as a sort of psychological cattle chute in which allowed choices are limited without respect to the client's perception of health.
Looking forward to exploring more of what you've written here.
"Psychological cattle chute!" What an evocative image. I've seen medical evaluations work that way.
Thank you for sharing your experience. It is sad when clinicians either can't or won't see the person who has come to them for care. Instead, they're blinded by the data they've gathered about that person's body.
I just discovered this piece via some Substack byway, Josh, and find myself deeply appreciating your insights and thoughtfulness. "We must see our context; we must know our story." Beautiful.
In my own work with clients in a non-medicalized setting, I often encounter very real exasperation or grief over why a particular medical specialist doesn't have the answer for a client's experience of poor health, and often it comes down to the clinical markers looking normal despite the client's experience and the practitioner perhaps either being too busy or too reliant on the numbers to hear and acknowledge the validity of anecdotal experience. On the flip side, I've worked with people who are equally exasperated because a specific clinical marker has been used as a sort of psychological cattle chute in which allowed choices are limited without respect to the client's perception of health.
Looking forward to exploring more of what you've written here.
"Psychological cattle chute!" What an evocative image. I've seen medical evaluations work that way.
Thank you for sharing your experience. It is sad when clinicians either can't or won't see the person who has come to them for care. Instead, they're blinded by the data they've gathered about that person's body.
Wonderful and eye-opening read. Thank you for your wisdom and experience and perspective. 🙏