Reasoning

Preface

xii

act on during therapy. In many cases, research findings from within occupational therapy were combined with salient scholarship from a variety of other disciplines, such as psychology, anthropology, philosophy, nursing, medicine, and physical therapy. Although the units and chapters are related, each can also stand alone, thus allowing the text to be used either in a specific class or across different courses, depending on the curriculum design. Those outside of the academic sphere can se lect materials most relevant to their needs. Clinical and Professional Reasoning in Occupational Therapy is organized into four units. Unit I, Nature of Professional Reasoning , focuses on clinical and pro fessional reasoning as processes grounded in human experience. The introductory chapter provides an overview of the definitions of clinical and professional reason ing. Chapter 2 describes human neurocognitive research, explaining cognitive pro cesses and related neurology that underpin professional reasoning. This chapter has new authors who have completely rewritten the chapter. Chapter 3 discusses how humans are all influenced by their cultures and experiences, such that they gain a worldview that influences their thinking. Each therapist’s worldview shapes the assumptions that become an inherent part of that person’s professional reason ing. Several new authors joined in the development of a new iteration of this chapter, bringing a variety of international perspectives, some of which challenge taken-for granted assumptions in professional reasoning theory and research. Chapter 4 dis cusses the notion of reasoning as an “embodied” process: one in which the artificial convention of separating mind and body is reconceptualized into a holistic knowing evident through our practice actions. Chapter 5 presents an ecological model of professional reasoning that serves to guide readers about how the many aspects of professional reasoning are related. By the end of this unit, readers will appreciate the commonalities of humans as they reason, as well as the individual variances that form the ground on which each therapist reasons in practice. Unit II, Aspects of Professional Reasoning , provides in-depth explorations of the different facets of therapists’ reasoning. Chapter 6 introduces readers to var ied forms and aspects of professional reasoning and explains how these forms intertwine during practice actions. These aspects of reasoning may not represent different kinds of reasoning from the perspective of cognitive psychology, but they do highlight how therapists shift their attention to different aspects of the ther apy process, and in doing so change the rhetoric and ways of framing problems in practice. Chapter 7 provides an extensive examination of scientific reasoning, the kind of thinking that attempts to be objective and that seeks theory, evidence, and the use of logic to understand therapy issues. This chapter has new authors and was completely rewritten. Chapter 8 describes narrative reasoning, an aspect of reasoning in which the therapist’s attention moves from the objective science to clients’ subjective experiences. By attending to the client’s life stories, therapists’ reason about the meaning of health experiences to their clients and choose therapy actions informed by this knowledge. Chapter 9 goes beyond the therapist–client relationships to pragmatic reasoning, in which therapists attend to the practical is sues in delivering care. These include the practice context in which care occurs and the therapist’s own personal skills and differences, all of which become factors in determining what a given therapist believes to be possible or practical when deliv ering services. In Chapter 10, a former contributor steps into the lead author role, examining therapists’ moral sense and ethical frameworks which guide therapists when they must choose the right action from among competing options. The unit concludes with Chapter 11, which emphasizes interactive reasoning, the consider ations associated with therapy as a process of communication with the client.

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