Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 26, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
[A shared room of reflection where the patient's symptoms are valid sources of knowledge]
1Seksjon for allmennmedism Universitetet i Bergen Ulriksdal 8 C 5009 Bergen. kirsti.malterud@isf.uib.no
Background:
The consultation is supposed to clarify the origin of the patient's complaints and what can be done to alleviate them. Diagnostic work and interaction are challenged by subjective symptoms with no objective findings. In our project "Symptoms as a source of knowledge" we studied women's medically unexplained disorders from the viewpoint that the patient's knowledge represents significant potential for creative understanding.
Material And Methods:
Concepts and hypotheses about symptoms applied as diagnostic sources of knowledge were drawn from qualitative analysis of findings from the subprojects. We have explored issues of relevance and validity that shape the consultation as a medical and cultural space.
Results:
Symptoms beyond established categories can disturb a room of reflection which includes patient as well as doctor. The patient may feel dismissed as a person, the process of objectivising becomes defocused, and the diagnostic activity deals with the patient's credibility. Signs related to "either-or" appear as a more comprehensible medical pattern than signs of 'more-or-less'. The probability of a common room of reflection may be related to cultural attitudes to time, blame, and womanliness.
Interpretation:
When traditional medical analytic tools fail, alternative rooms of reflection can be established from recognition, resources, and dialogue, enhancing surprises and curiosity.
Related Concept Videos
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Techniques of Therapeutic Communication II: Focusing, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
This therapeutic technique can also be used when a patient brings up pertinent information during a health-related conversation. The...
Patient-centered Care
Critical Thinking II
Introspection

