The clinical paradox: Acting in two worlds in parallel

Abstract

Background: Centred around the thesis that for those engaged in clinical practice there are two worlds present in parallel, this article defines the characteristics of the supposed second, qualitative world. Contrasting these characteristics to those of the world as seen in continuous metric dimensions of space and time, we derive the nature of the qualitative elements and their coherent interaction, as well as the rules governing these dynamic elements' interactions. Results:The second world claimed to exist turns out to be made of individual worlds centred in coherent perspectival interaction. Its polycentric agency enacts individual perspectives and mutual information uptake. This hermeneutical approach conforms with some recent developments in theory, such as that of Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom, or the enactment theory of cognitive science.Conclusions: Following this theoretical process, two practical consequences are drawn. The first consists of an advanced model of biopsychosocial interaction, as extensively published throughout the years. The second presents the concept of quality-oriented self-aid groups open to all exposed to or working in care and healthcare. The corresponding training helps practitioners to consciously and deliberately move, perceive, and perform in the duplicity of worlds, the one the conventional quantifying, metric one, the other the mostly rationally unknown world emerging from qualifying interactive agency.