This reflection explores my experience of developing therapeutic communication skills and building rapport with a client during assessment. It highlights both my strengths in fostering a supportive interaction and my awareness of the need to maintain professional boundaries to ensure client-centred practice.
The aim of this piece of writing is to reflect/consider how my last placement within university was and the negatives/positives from which I have learnt. This placement was carried out from Monday to Friday and was set within the University itself. The main goal/learning outcome of this placement was to; ‘manage effective therapeutic relationships with clients and carers in a variety of situations.’
In order to achieve this learning outcome we were provided with the opportunity to speak to members of the PPG in order to carry out an initial assessment, document this assessment and improve communication skills. As a group of four we worked together to pose questions we wanted to ask the client in order to gather the necessary information in order to investigate occupational flow/interruption. We worked alongside the interest checklist to prioritise which activities bring meaning to the individual and to create an action plan of how to incorporate this within their daily life with the aim of increasing occupational flow.
In order to build rapport we first introduced ourselves as student occupational therapists and explained our role within the healthcare profession before asking the client to also introduce themselves and gaining consent to carry this activity out. The purpose of the checklist was then discussed, allowing the individual to understand the significance of this activity. Throughout completing this checklist I felt that I communicated well with the individual, ensuring I maintained positive body language which indicated I was interested and my attention was solely on the activity at hand. I believe this allowed the individual to gradually become more comfortable throughout the session and communicate openly to ensure she gained everything she needed to from the session and that I was able to gather all necessary information in order to put the client’s needs at the forefront and develop the most appropriate plan.
However, when reflecting I also noticed that I possibly became too comfortable at points when trying to build rapport as I possibly was trying too hard to be relatable which perhaps turned the outcome and focus of this activity from the individual onto me. For example, the individual expressed an interest in gymnastics in which I tried to be relatable and express my interest in this as well however this ended up in a longer conversation, which possibly lost direction of the conversation.
In future in order to prevent this from happening I will ensure that my main focus stays on the client at hand in order to meet the outcomes of the session. I believe it is of the utmost importance to ensure the client feels comfortable enough to speak openly, finding the balance of building a therapeutic relationship without crossing a professional line.
Overall, I believe this placement allowed me to experience a realistic communication with patients and provided me with the knowledge and skills necessary to carry this out in future whilst also understanding where I could improve and taking this into consideration to ensure future communication is more effective/appropriate.