Resonating to pain: Introspection as a tool in medical anthropology 'at home'.

The author has been involved in anthropological research on epilepsy in the setting of Swaziland and The Netherlands. This article explores the differences between those research experiences. It specifically describes an affective aspect of medical anthropological fieldwork at home: the idea that one's emotional response may alert to socio-cultural issues in a similar way to a psychotherapist's countertransference may alert to core issues. It is argued that finding a balance between distance and proximity is not only problematic on the level of cognition. Being 'at home' refers to the conceptional as well as emotional.