Aesthetics and the Clinical Encounter

Abstract

Abstract The clinical encounter can be conceived of as a functional, instrumental, and transactional process. It is an encounter between someone who is in distress and is in the role of a patient and another person who has expertise, makes inquiries, comes to judgements, and proffers assistance to the other, in the role of doctor. These roles have implicit and explicit expectations that determine how the encounter unfolds. In this chapter, the author will explore the characteristics of the aesthetic values that influence the patient’s actions, the patient’s narrative account, and the patient’s desire to be more than a patient. The author will then turn to the aesthetic values that underpin the clinical inquiry, how this shapes the possibility of attentive listening, and the notion of attunement to the patient’s dilemma. Finally, the author will consider the conjoint enterprise between the patient and the doctor to escape the limitations and constraints of role performance such that creativity and aesthetics determine what emerges within the clinical encounter.