Practical Counseling Strategies for
Speech-Language Pathologists
Overview
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are trained to help
people who are experiencing speech or language disorders
improve their communication abilities and increase their
ability to function in their lives. Many times, however,
people with communication disorders also experience negative
affective and cognitive reactions to their speaking
difficulties. These reactions can not only have a
significant impact on a speaker’s emotional well-being; they
can also impede a client’s progress in therapy. Therefore,
if SLPs wish to help their clients achieve their greatest
possible success in therapy, they may need to help their
clients address these negative reactions.
Unfortunately, many SLPs do not feel that they are
adequately prepared to address emotional or cognitive
aspects of communication disorders, even though treatment of
such reactions are within the SLP’s scope of practice—if
they have received necessary training. The purpose of this
workshop is to provide practicing SLPs and student
clinicians with basic information about counseling people
with communication disorders. The presentation will begin
with a detailed discussion of what counseling is, and how
counseling procedures are related to the overall process of
therapy for people with communication disorders. Topics to
be addressed include: when to use counseling skills, the
nature of the emotional reactions clients may experience,
how to further develop counseling skills, and, in
particularly, which aspects of the counseling process are
within the SLP’s scope of practice and which aspects
should be referred to other professionals with specific
training in counseling strategies.
The workshop is based on a model of the helping process
drawn from counseling psychology which is designed to help
clients: (a) understand and describe their current
situation, (b) identify and select possible options for a
successful outcome of treatment, (c) evaluate strategies for
achieving treatment goals, and (d) develop and execute an
action plan for achieving goals in treatment and in life.
Along the way, participants learn several specific
counseling strategies that can help them accurately
understand the client’s point of view and convey their
understanding of the client’s perspective, provide helpful
responses to clients’ statements of emotion, and support
clients in taking responsibility for change in treatment.
Sample Outline / Timed Agenda (Full-day program shown. All seminars
can be adapted to a variety of schedules.)
9:00 - 10:30 What is counseling? When do
we use counseling strategies?
10:30 - 10:45 break
10:15 - 12:00 A model for helping clients achieve their
goals in treatment.
12:00 - 1:30 Lunch
1:30 - 2:45 Specific Counseling
Strategies
2:45 - 3:00 Break
3:00 - 3:30 Bringing it all together for
change / Questions & Answers
Learning Objectives
Following this presentation,
participants will be able to:
Discuss the importance of developing counseling strategies
for helping people with communication disorders
Describe the process of coping that many people with
communication disorders may go through as they learn to live
with their speaking difficulties
Apply a model of the counseling process focused on helping
clients identify their current situation, evaluate their
preferred situation, select appropriate options for change,
and develop an action plan to help their achieve their goals
in therapy
Utilize 3 key counseling strategies designed to help people
with communication disorders come to terms with their
speaking difficulties and improve the outcome of treatment
For More Information
To schedule this seminar or to find out how this program
can be adapted for your organization, contact Dr. Yaruss at
seminars@yaruss.com.
|
