The co-editors of Narrative Medicine: Trauma and Ethics, Anders Juhl Rasmussen and Morten Sodenmann, open their introduction with their goal for this text to “reposition narrative medicine with trauma studies and ethics in a global context” (xv). The book contains 20 chapters from scholars of medicine/healthcare, narrative medicine, trauma-informed care, ethics, literature/writing, philosophy, anthropology, arts…
Author: Kathryn West
Kathryn West is a LCSW and serves as the Director of Communications for the Section of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Chicago. She earned her AM from the University of Chicago and, prior, her BA in English/Creative Writing at Northwestern University. Her clinical orientation is eclectic and informed by narrative therapy, group work, CBT/ACT, mindfulness, harm reduction, and creative expression as a processing tool. She primarily works with those impacted by cancer. Kathryn's primary research interests relate to the practice of graphic medicine as a mechanism for processing, mental health narratives, and the ethics and practicalities of diagnosis in the space of mental healthcare.
But who cares for the carer?
A few months ago, I offered a Graphic Medicine workshop at an event geared towards those who provide care to their loved ones impacted by cancer. The premise: for caregivers to use art, color, and words to reflect on their support systems and consider ways of broadening and deepening the connections which those systems comprise….