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Communication Strategies Paper
For years, I have wanted to be a therapist. Helping and talking with people is
something that brings me joy. Listening and giving advice to friends and family feels like
second nature to me, and I could see myself making a career out of it. Communication is a
key part of being a therapist. Your practice will be ineffective if you cannot listen to or
properly communicate with a client. Taking SCOM 325, Interpersonal Communication, based
on this idea, would best prepare me for my career. Interpersonal communication focuses
specifically on the communication between people. Therefore, this communication minor
would help me understand how to best advise a client.
Nonverbal communication is exactly what it sounds like; it is communicating without
using words. This type of communication can benefit my career as a therapist in more ways than
one. Using nonverbal listening techniques like nodding and keeping eye contact can help me stay
engaged in the conversation. These techniques can also show my clients that they have my full
attention, making them feel heard and appreciated. On the other hand, Nonverbal communication
in close relationships: what words don't tell us, says that if I give off the wrong nonverbal
communication signals and body language, I can cause my client to potentially not like or trust
me (Sternberg, 2022).
Intercultural communication is another form of communication that would benefit my
career as a therapist. Interactions between people of different cultures about their backgrounds
can be referred to as intercultural communication. As a therapist, I do not want to be restricted to
what clients I can and cannot take. I want to be able to help people from all different walks of
life; to do this, I must be able to communicate and understand the differences between myself
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and my client. In, Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction, Ingrid Piller
emphasizes the importance of addressing cultural differences to avoid potential conflict and
insults (Piller, 2011). Clients may also have problems rooted in their culture, so I must be willing
to participate in this intercultural communication. A therapist cannot always relate to everything
their clients say, but they are expected to understand it.
Another form of communication is called mediated communication. Mediated
communication is not a well-known term, although most use it daily. Jeffery T. Child from
Experience Communication states, “Mediated communication refers to messages that are not
directly from person to person but through some other communication tool, such as print,
electronic, or digital communication devices” (Child, 2022.) Although many therapists meet in
person, it is not uncommon now to meet with a therapist via Zoom. Some therapists also give
their numbers to clients who may need to reach them in cases of emergencies. During my
practice, I want to take advantage of in-person and mediated communication so I can attend to
my clients however necessary.
Teaching is a communication career that would interact with my chosen profession.
Although a teacher and a therapist are not the same thing, they have many correlations. A goal
for both therapists and teachers is to help those they oversee. Teachers do not help others the
same way as therapists, but both must communicate effectively to reach their goals. SCOM 325,
Interpersonal Communication, is a course that would benefit teachers and therapists.
Communication skills are essential to any career you choose, and many of them exist.
Resolving conflicts is a skill I did not previously mention, but that is crucial to healthy
communication. Avoidance, competition, compromise, accommodation, and collaboration are
five techniques I learned this semester on how to solve conflicts when they arise. This is one of
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References
Child, J. T. (2022). Understanding Mediated Communication. In Experience Communication (3rd
ed., pp. 120-122). Essay, McGraw Hill.
Piller, I. (2011). Intercultural communication : a critical introduction. Edinburgh University
Press.
Sternberg, R. J., & KostiB, A. (Eds.). (2022). Nonverbal communication in close relationships :
what words don’t tell us. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94492-
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