The Spirits in the Consulting Room is the first English translation of Bouznah and Lwertowksi's Quand les esprits viennent aux medecins: 7 recits pour soigner. Bouznah and Lewertowski, leaders in the field of transcultural mediation, explain that these days, with hospitals welcoming patients from all over, many with difficult diagnoses, different nationalities and languages, and each with different ideas of illness and death, doctors must confront 'therapeutic stalemates' from patients from other cultures who may not agree with or even understand their treatment plans.What to do then? Through the seven case studies from the French edition, and one new chapter only available in this English version, Bouznah and Lewertowski demonstrate that the transcultural clinic they run in hospitals across France, and the transcultural methods they describe open up a new way to improve care. At the request of physicians and caregivers who have reached an impasse in their diagnosis and therapy for any number of migrant patients, these authors come in and provide interventions to bridge the various cultures represented and find a path foward toward care. For more than ten years, these authors have been making possible, in the very heart of the hospital, the improbable encounter between the world of the doctor and that of their patient. Intended for professional healthcare providers, researchers, and phsycians who are interested in transcultural issues, a far wider audience will be moved by the powerful emotions conveyed by the narratives of the patients these doctors have encountered. While the case studies are all from Paris hospitals, the diverse cultural backgrounds of the patients, chronicled here in the fully updated and expanded English edition, throw light on the migratory phenomena that is specific to Western societies across the world and should interest anyone who is a fan of the work of Oliver Sacks.
