Therapeutic Relationships (Take away)

I found our last lecture on therapeutic relationships helpful in understanding how to interact with clients as an OT student and future practitioner. I enjoyed learning about active listening, having empathy, and other different ways we can support and care for clients. While these are things I have learned before in some of my psychology classes in undergrad, it was helpful for me to be reminded of how intentional I need to be in the way I communicate so that that the person I am talking to feels comfortable opening up and sharing about their life. Naturally, if a client doesn't feel comfortable with me as their practitioner, they probably will withhold information and I, as a practitioner, would not be able to help them to the full extent as I could knowing more information. Throughout observing in different clinics, I met therapists that were really great at active listening and showing empathy towards their parents. I also observed some therapists who lost their patience with a client and were visibly irritated. It made a huge difference in how the client reacted back towards the practitioner and made completing ADLs or performing exercises much harder. It also took a lot more time for the tasks to be completed.