ABSTRACT
As physiotherapists practice their clinical work, what presuppositions guide, and sometimes limit, their thinking? We approach professional knowledge not as abstract scientific facts but rather as embodied knowledge, situated in context. Gabbay and le May (2011) call this understanding of knowledge ‘mindlines’. Embodied mindlines direct what a professional considers right to do, in a moment like this, faced with a situation such as this. Mindlines integrate the collective of clinical training, institutional demands, stories and perspectives of esteemed colleagues, scientific facts, experiences of patient care, and personal insight. Mindlines evolve throughout careers, but that evolution is often contingent rather than purposeful. Physiotherapists can reflectively shape the development of their mindlines; we propose the idea of a supportive ‘reflecting team’, as discussed and exemplified by Arthur Frank in The Renewal of Generosity: Illness, Medicine, and How to Live. Frank’s version of a reflecting team differs from those used in organizational development, peer supervision, or professional guidance; his are selected theorists who only meet through Frank’s own reflections and analysis of stories of generosity and lack thereof in healthcare. In this chapter, we think with a theoretical reflecting team to unsettle the knowledge base in physiotherapy, particularly that which limits generous and hospitable physiotherapy practice. Through our own and others’ stories of physiotherapy care, we reflect on how physiotherapy mindlines can limit generous, recuperative relations with patients, particularly when facing sadness that exceeds intervention. To reflect on our stories, we enlist Mikhail Bakhtin (dialogic imagination) and Hans-Georg Gadamer (the enigma of health) - though we invite readers to find their own teams. Our theoretical reflecting team guides the development of embodied, situated physiotherapy mindlines toward generosity in practice.
