Preface

The Sonic Meanings of the Life and Death of My Disabled Brother: Listening as a Method for Qualitative Research

“…For healthcare praxis, listening and developing sonic sensibilities can facilitate dialogical encounters with patients where they are being heard not only through the words they utter (when they can) but also through embodied listening that strives to meet the person in the present moment with an open mind, being sensitive to her unique presence with no purposes, no anticipation, and no means-oriented thinking, as the philosopher of dialogue Martin Buber (1996, p. 63) would have it. By practicing embodied listening, we might learn to transform what at first appears empty silence to resonant, dialogical and nurturing silence (Mendes-Flohr, 2012, p. 19), make space for existential dimensions difficult to verbalize (Kristiansen, 2012 p. 130) and respond with “heart and soul” to each moment of encounter (Welz, in press). Likewise, developing sonic sensibilities in therapeutic practices can enable a dialogical and healing relationship toward oneself.…”