Thinking about holism

Reflection by Karin Mohn Engebretsen on N=1

Reflecting back on two interesting days filled with good presentations and plenum discussions I’m sitting here wondering how all this input fits in with the article I am about to write. Despite an extraordinary amount of work done on burnout as a phenomenon the aetiology is still unknown. Research has not managed to detect neither a cause nor a treatment. So my question is “will more of the same” concerning research outcome from RCTs bring forth new knowledge? Alternatively, have these methods shown a limitation due to the chosen ontological and epistemological stance taken?

The symptoms of Burnout are to a minor degree seen as an interaction within a broader contextual field. There is a tendency to assume a narrow perspective to focus on problems related to psyche or soma without seeing the individual in a holistic perspective as a part of the total environmental context. I think there is an on-going crisis in society because of the disembodiment of the mind and the individuals’ uprooting from life and nature. One of the presentations again pops into my mind, the one given by Anna Luise Kirkengen. The story of her patient touched me deeply and the research she presented at the N=1 work-shop, inspires me to believe in the work I am doing!