Mai Xiong - Week 6
Both Ramakrishnan’s and Hevda’s readings remind me of my own personal experiences with therapy. The role of my therapist is similar to that of Ramakrishnan’s chaplain’s. I don’t often think about what my therapists are thinking about while we are in session. This reading helped me understand the ways and approach my pervious therapist may have used during our sessions. Having seen a few providers in the mental health field, I agree with Ramakrishnan that there is a theme of empathy. One way in which this empathy is shown is the certain empathetic words I typically hear during the session, “I’m sorry to hear about that.” In talking about spirituality in a mental health sense, it allows spiritualty to “withstand scientific scrutiny” (Ramakrishnan 2015: 399).
On the other hand, Hedva offers this idea that the labeling of illnesses is a Western and white way of responding to people’s emotional reactions and impacts people differently. Hedva shares, “...one of the aims of Sick Woman Theory is to resist the notion that one needs to be legitimated by an institution so that they can try to fix you according to their terms” (Hedva 2019: 146). As a student and someone who wasn’t very aware of what mental health is, I found myself stuck in this process and constant need to “prove” that my emotional distresses are real. In attempting to “prove” my stresses, there is a particular way in which I have to navigate and go about it. When I first began, I didn’t know where to go to get support. I learn I can see a counselor on campus. I then learn that when things get tough and I find myself falling behind, I can ask for an extension from my professor, but I have to obtain documentation. So it becomes sort of a cycle. To receive documentation and support that the emotional distress is “really” happening, I have to go see a counselor or therapist in order to obtain the “proof.” From my experience, this was an overwhelming process. I had to figure out what was “wrong” with me, try to label it something that others would understand in order to show “proof” of what’s going on. Despite the long process, this process needs to occur in order for its benefits to be laid out. The benefits are to be able to able to receive accommodations and support from professors.
Audio/Video: The Spirituality of Medicine by WestIndieRay
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