Communication Skills

I have to say, it's very uncomfortable to me to work on my communication skills. It's a bit painful to look at your faults and difficult to change a lifetime of habits. On FW though it's very clear how important these skills are in motivating clients and also negotiating with the rest of the team. With the client, getting to truly understand them by actively listening and getting them to connect with you is the key to motivating the reluctant person. If you can't connect, then negotiating with a co-worker to take over is a great way to making sure your personality conflicts are not going to hinder treatment of the client. I've seen the therapists at the SNF work together by playing to their strengths and asking each other to step in when the other has failed with a certain client. These ladies know each other well and what the other's limitations are so they work well together but I could see where being the new therapist, this could be a problem or when there is a heavy case load and there is little time for negotiating patient swaps.

I've been reading Messages: The Communication Skills Book which reiterates many of the things we've learned in class but also goes into more detail on better communication. Reading different examples of the same material has helped to clarify some of the techniques we've been taught.