The interembodiment of healing: Holistic transformations in neurological rehabilitation and care

While disability literature has largely moved away from rehabilitation settings, critiquing its philosophy as reifying normative ableism, many communities still request accessible treatment options. Those with paralysis (on account of spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury) are especially surrounded by constant messaging centered on hopes of a cure, with activity-based therapy, a relatively new therapy modality, being situated as providing maximum hope for patients and clients. This paper draws on 10 months of ethnographic research with paralysis patients, their caregivers, and rehabilitation professionals, finding that many tensions between patients and their recovery processes emerge from how consonant these modalities are for patient engagement. However, patient learning is often simultaneously emotional, informational, and bodily; a complex that I argue illustrates how interembodiment is a holistic encounter between patients and their therapists. Deep learning occurs on multiple communicative channels. Using ethnographic vignettes and case studies, this paper illustrates situations of interembodiment where rehabilitation professionals and caregivers assist patients and clients by inciting emotional energy and other social connections in order to aid their transitions towards recovery. Rather than seeing paralysis as an individual condition, this work suggests a method for understanding how immanent (and social) emotions can create a web of motivational energy, sentiments, standards, and care practices that transfer both healing and social attunement across bodies.