I’m sure you’ve encountered a patient and spouse in your office or at bedside crying about their situation and how this CVA has destroyed their life. The patient is aphasic and still comprehends, but you can see the pain and anguish in his face.
Did your grad course work include counseling classes with role playing ?
Mine didn’t
Have you taken any classes on counseling ?
I haven’t until recently
What do you do ?
So, let’s put this ourselves in their shoes. I’m sure we’ve all gone through tough moments where the support of another is needed. Start there. What did you want to hear?
Dr. Luterman, a well known SLP and professor emeritus from ASHA’s SIG 20 on counseling stated,
“Our counseling is basically grief work . We can comfortably enter this realm without stepping on the toes of mental health counselors.
The three most important things to teach directly is listening,listening, and listening. No technique works without listening to the client.”
Dr. Luterman January 12,2024
There are many types of listening but, just taking some time to let you patient react and process is helpful.
Secondly, validating their situation is important by saying something genuine and simple.
“I am sorry this is happening to you”
Active listening will truly show that you’re empathetic.
Here’s a take-out resource for you.
www.slackbooks.com/counseling-and-motivational-interviewing-in-speech-language-pathology/
