( HS Schneider 065482 2024) Healing Arts: Narrative Medicine and Pain Care

Course overview

There is no objective measurement for pain. No thermometer, blood test, visual or manual assessment will tell you how much someone hurts. Pain is a lived experience revealed only through the stories of the one living it. Neuroscience shows that pain is highly influenced by stories too: personal experiences, beliefs, and expectations (the stories we tell ourselves) are just as relevant to recovery as diagnosis and prognosis (the stories our doctors tell us). And yet, most clinical education fails to prepare healthcare professionals to interact with stories in a meaningful way. Narrative Medicine, a new field of study emerging from Columbia Medical School, addresses the need for narrative competence with a practice. Through close reading, the signature method of Narrative Medicine, healthcare professionals learn how to listen attentively and generously to patient stories. Reflective writing exercises also help practitioners examine their own narrative in supportive group settings. By bridging healthcare and the humanities, Narrative Medicine hopes to reform healthcare systems that so often miss the story behind the symptom and the human behind the patient.