How holistic are we? The role of narrative, storytelling and reflection in the development of holistic practice

摘要

Those working in the caring professions generally claim to be holistic practitioners. This is a nice idea and it would seem unacceptable not to make such a claim. Yet do they actually realise holism in their practice? Or put another way, what is it like to truly practice holism? Holism is equated with the idea of treating the whole person, whereby the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. From this perspective, a part cannot be looked at in isolation from the whole. In this respect, holism challenges the limited perspective of the medical model that classically looks at disease rather than the person - thus splitting the mind and the body.