W4-Therapeutic Communication Skills Value

Post#2 Therapeutic Communication Skills by Ivan Oliva

Listening and Attending

In therapeutic communication, listening and attending are two interrelated concepts that go hand in hand. Listening is an interactive process that enables both the provider and the client to understand one another. Active listening is enhanced via listening to the client and using various sub-skills, including clarifying, paraphrasing, reflecting, and summarizing, to facilitate understanding (Ivey et al., 2017). On the other side, attending involves verbal and nonverbal behaviors, which shows that the client is paying attention to and interested in the provider's message. Sometimes, these aspects can be surrounded by several challenges, including poor language, physical barriers, etc. Therefore, this review discusses the problems/obstacles that can arise during listening and attending, how these problems/barriers interfere with therapeutic communication, and how this aspect of therapeutic touch can change to enhance alliance building with individuals from different cultures.

Some of the problems/barriers that can arise for listening and attending are as follows. One of them is prejudice; some of our default ways of processing information and perceiving others can lead to rigid thinking. When clients engage in prejudiced listening, they might preserve their ways of thinking and avoid being convinced of anything by the provider. This is a kind of prejudice because they stop listening actively when judging others based on their identity. Another barrier to listening and attending is bad listening practices. Physical barriers, cognitive limitations, and perceptual biases exist among all people. Sometimes, when there is a physical barrier, i.e., the provider and the client are not in a close range, they might end up finding it hard to speak a message to another. And as a result, it becomes hard to convey the message. And the last problem is the language barrier. When the provider or the client speaks some different language or when the nonverbal cues mean something different due to cultural differences, it becomes hard for the two parties to communicate (Corey, 2016). And as a result, the patient may develop poor listening and attending skills.

The above-said problems/barriers significantly interfere with communication:

1. Prejudice interferes with the transmission in that the client operates from the state of denial where they avoid a subject with the provider so that they might not be challenged. Prejudices based on race, age, or identity may make clients believe that they already know what the provider will say (Sethi & Rani, 2017). As a result, they might lower their listening skills because they are not ready for the information.

2. Lousy listening practices, including physical barriers, may interfere with the communication by making it hard to hear the message. For example, when a provider and the client are far much apart, it might be hard to listen to the message clearly, eventually interfering with the communication.

3. Language barriers between the provider and the patient may make it hard to understand what each party says, leading to communication problems.

Finally, listening and attending can change to enhance alliance building with individuals who are from another culture. When people eliminate prejudice, they can accept one another irrespective of their identity and have a common goal of enhancing change. Similarly, removing language barriers among people from different cultures during a therapeutic intervention can help both the provider and the client understand one another, thus, coming up with an effective treatment plan (Sethi & Rani, 2017). Some ways that could be used to eliminate language barriers include using plain language, finding a reliable translator, visual communication methods, and repetitions. Conclusively, listening and attending skills should be observed in any.

Therapeutic communication because they help understand the patients' condition, thus, helping them manage the problem.

References

Corey, G. (2016). Theory and Practice of group counseling (9th ed.) Cengage Learning. ISBN- 13:978-1305088016.

Ivey, A. E., Daniels, T., Zalaquett, C. P., & Ivey, M. B. (2017). Neuroscience of attention: Empathy and counseling skills. Neurocounseling: Brain-based clinical approaches, 83- 99.

Sethi, D., & Rani, M. K. (2017). Communication barrier in a health care setting as perceived by nurses and patients. International Journal of Nursing Education, 9(4), 30-35.