Body Disclosures: Attending to Personal Problems and Reported Sexual Abuse during a Medical Encounter

Abstract

This study examines moments of mutual sensitivity during a health appraisal interview. Attention is given to how patient becomes visibly and audibly emotional when reporting personal problems, how these behaviors get attended to through subsequent interaction, and the delicacy involved in transitioning to discussion about reported childhood sexual abuse. Analysis reveals how delicate moments get closely monitored and collaboratively produced, why “medical” and “personal” distinctions are artificially dichotomous, ways “attending” should not be exclusively associated with the interactional responsibilities of interviewers, and how attention given to the patient's body gets transformed over the course of the history-taking interview. Attending to a patient's expressed and exhibited problems is an inevitable and valuable resource for generating a comprehensive understanding of psychosocial and biomedical circumstances.