Therapeutic Relationships

Having a good therapeutic relationship is important in the field of occupational therapy because it helps the client connect with us with a balance of someone who is there to help them but not superior to them.  I use the active listening technique many times in my own conversations so that not only I, but the person I am speaking with has a clear understanding of what is being discussed.  This is important to use because it is easy to use terminology that other people do not understand without even realizing it. Showing empathy to the client is also an important thing to use when building a therapeutic relationship because it helps builds trust and lets the client know that you care about them and helps them open up more to you.

Knowledge Check 3/14/19

My main take away from Dr. Keisling's presentation today was the progress we have made as a society to include people with disabilities in our daily lives.  From the pictures he shared with us today and the stories that were told, it is horrific to think about how we use to treat people with disabilities.  I have a clear understanding now as to why we need to know this history so that it never happens again.  "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana.

I believe that covering this material will have a big impact on not only myself, but all of us as we become OT practitioners.  We have a new generation of people who have grown up without ever knowing what it is like to be discriminated against, but we still have the ones that were.  Understanding this history will help us be better OT practitioners and helping us strive to continue making sure that no one is treated differently again.