Benefits to Health Care Professionals

What is the connection between creative encounters and improved medical practice?

As you engage more frequently and more deeply in creative encounters you

• become more comfortable with states of ambiguity and uncertainty
  [and thus develop a deeper understanding of the complex and oftentimes obscure nature of pain, illness, and the dying process];

• learn to facilitate and attend to details of process rather than outcome
  [and thus develop an attentiveness and sensitivity to details of pain management and patient care, especially when cure is not possible];

• observe and create more opportunities for change and choice
  [and thus empower the patient by involving him/her in decision making and develop an open-minded, interdisciplinary, and collaborative approach to pain management and problem solving in general];

• understand the need for self-care and self-awareness
  [and thus attend to one's own challenges and sources of suffering in life while learning how to make healthy lifestyle choices];

• express yourself more easily, alone and in collaboration with others
  [and thus develop verbal and non-verbal communication skills, improve patient-caregiver relations, and understand self-expression as an integral component of health];

• clarify and personalize your sense of spirituality
  [and thus develop deep compassion and empathy for all human vulnerabilities and painful conditions].