Let's Get Personal, Let's Get Physical: Approaching the Bodily Self in Clinical Interactions

Area of Science:

• Integrative medicine
• Embodied cognition
• Clinical psychology

Background:

• Current medical and psychiatric practices often adopt a reductionist, third-person perspective.
• These approaches tend to fragment the understanding of health by focusing on either the physical body or mental states, neglecting their interplay.
• The crucial role of the 'bodily self' in illness and wellness is often overlooked.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the limitations of current medical and psychiatric paradigms.
• To explore the concept of embodiment and enactivism in understanding the self.
• To propose practical clinical diagnostic strategies that incorporate the bodily self.

Main Methods:

• Briefly summarizes current theories of embodiment and enactivism.
• Critically analyzes the reductionist tendencies in biomedical and psychotherapeutic fields.
• Suggests a shift towards a more holistic understanding of the person.

Main Results:

• Identifies a gap in clinical practice regarding the integration of the bodily self.
• Highlights embodiment and enactivism as frameworks for understanding the lived experience of the body.
• Points to the need for revised diagnostic approaches in clinical settings.

Conclusions:

• A more integrated understanding of the person, encompassing both mind and body, is essential for effective healthcare.
• Embodiment and enactivism offer valuable perspectives for clinical diagnostics.
• Future clinical practice should prioritize understanding the 'lowlands where being-a-person and having-a-body meet'.