One Profession – One Epistemology? Art, Science, & Magic? Rigour, Relevance, & Relationships? Or Faith, Hope and Charity?

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Leahy, M.M.

Affiliations: Dept. of Clinical Speech & Language Studies, Trinity College, Dublin

Abstract: Client welfare is the speech and language therapist’s primary ethical responsibility. This provides a powerful, unifying professional focus to our many therapy roles and unites the art of practice with the science of theoretical backgrounds to practice, and what might be called the magical effects of how relationships in practice bring about change. Another way of referring to such aspects of philosophical aspects of practice might be: faith, hope, and charity? Each therapist acts as an individual as well as a professional, with many possible influences on how clinical decisions are made. Philosophical underpinnings of our actions as therapists are raised, with the objective of stimulating reflection on how our (often unconscious) knowledge informs therapy decisions.

Keywords: Epistemology, decision-making, clinical practice

DOI: 10.3233/ACS-2008-16103

Journal: Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 4-11, 2008