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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Using Visual and Narrative Methods to Achieve Fair Process in Clinical Care
Published on: February 16, 2011
Humanizing Patients through Narrative Approaches: The Case of Murphy, the "Motor-Mouth"
Background:
Some psychiatric patients are presented as hopeless, burned out, and devoid of social graces. Staff of mental health centers and hospitals are not encouraged to view these people differently. A narrative perspective allows anyone to emerge as a richly complex human being.
Method:
A course presented students with the opportunity to create narrative descriptions of patients presented by medical staff as hopeless.
Results:
One student's narrative of "Murphy the Motor Mouth" is presented; it shows the validity and usefulness of the narrative approach in reconstructing a person to be avoided as an interesting, valuable, and richly complex human being.
Conclusion:
Murphy in story emerges as more interesting and worthy of knowing than the clinical Murphy constructed by medical staff. Narrative approaches offer a richness and intimacy that fosters a more therapeutic and effective relationship between patients and staff.
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