Turning toward suffering: Rethinking the patient- clinician relationship in physical therapy practice

In this professional theoretical article, the authors argue that patient care should be centered on connection and that authentically turning toward suffering necessitates an approach to care that transcends medicine's traditional focus on cure and physical restoration and differentiates between pathology and disability. The meaning of illness and suffering for those who have experienced life-changing injuries or illness is explored. Strategies for approaching the lifeworld of these individuals are discussed using the concepts of phenomenology and embodiment, rooted in the work of philosophers from the phenomenological tradition. The authors also propose an approach to patient care offering a case-based example based on postmodernist concepts that elevate connection, relationship, and interdependency above the traditional focus of restoring normality and physical independence for individuals with disabilities. Traditional assumptions about quality of life, illness, and disability are called into question by focusing on the fluidity of being and disability identity, which serves to destabilize static, binary conceptions of individuals as either healthy or ill, disabled, or able-bodied. A postmodern lens invites healthcare practitioners to envision themselves as part of an assemblage that may promote a more expansive view of the relationship between patient and healthcare practitioner.