I am repling to a peer’s post on Therapeutic communication

Re: Week 4 Discussion 1: Therapeutic Communication Skills

by Whitney Poppell – Wednesday, 24 May 2023, 1:07 PM

For this week’s discussion, I chose to focus on the therapeutic aspect of transference. Transference occurs when the client projects emotions or experiences from the past onto the therapist (American Psychological Association, n.d.). The client often projects emotions related to an important figure from the past onto the therapist (American Psychological Association, n.d.). Transference can be beneficial to the therapeutic process. It allows the client to process repressed memories and emotions from the past and explore how they are affecting the client in present day (American Psychological Association, n.d.). The therapist can use transference to improve the therapeutic outcome because the way the client interacts with the therapist can shine a light on the client’s previous relationship patterns, difficulties with emotional bonding, and their maladaptive behaviors (Prasko et al., 2022).

While transference can improve the therapeutic relationship, it can also cause barriers as well. A patient’s previous relationships, experiences, and emotional expressions can impact the development and building of the therapeutic relationship (Prasko et al., 2022). If the patient has a pattern of avoidance of close relationships and mistrust in relationships, this can be present in the therapy setting (Prasko et al., 2022). Because of this transference could cause the patient to have mistrust of the therapist. It could cause the patient to be closed off during the sessions and unwilling to open up fully to the therapist. Transference could cause the client to withhold information if they relate the therapist to someone who they did not trust. If the patient relates the therapist to a person who was unsafe in their past, the client may feel unsafe with the therapist (Prasko et al., 2022). If the patient feels unsafe, the therapeutic relationship could be negatively impacted. If the client feels unsafe or is not comfortable sharing information, therapeutic communication cannot exist fully.

If the client and therapist are of different races, transference could be used to enhance alliance building. If the client is Black, they may have a negative transference reaction towards a white therapist. This could be related to past racial trauma that a Black client experienced from a white person. To work through this trauma, the therapist could utilize the client’s transference reaction. The therapist could work to create a safe and trusting environment for the client that could help them heal from their past trauma. The utilization of transference during therapy can help a client gain insight into the nature of their issues and traumas (Sohtorik Ilkmen & Halfon, 2019). The alliance building between the client and therapist, the creation of a safe place for the client to heal, and increased insight of the client through transference utilization can lead to a positive outcome (Sohtorik Ilkmen & Halfon, 2019).

References

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/transference

Prasko, J., Ociskova, M., Vanek, J., Burkauskas, J., Slepecky, M., Bite, I., Krone, I., Sollar, T., Juskiene, A. (2022). Managing transference and countertransference in cognitive behavioral supervision: Theoretical framework and clinical application. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 15, 2129-2155. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S369294

Sohtorik Ilkmen, Y., & Halfon, S. (2019). Transference interpretations as predictors of increased insight and affect expression in a single case of long-term psychoanalysis. Research in Psychotherapy, 22(3), 408. https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2019.408    

NU-664C-02-23PCS3 FamilyPsychiatric Ment.Hlth I

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3. NU-664C-02-23PCS3
4. Week 4: Therapeutic Communication
5. Week 4 Discussion 1: Therapeutic Communication Skills

Week 4 Discussion 1: Therapeutic Communication Skills

Done: Make forum posts: 1

Value: 100 points

Due: In an effort to facilitate scholarly discourse, create your initial post by Day 4, and reply to at least two of your classmates, on two separate days, by Day 7.

Grading Category: Discussions

Note: In this type of discussion, you will not see the responses of your classmates until after you have posted your own response to the question below.

Pick an aspect of therapeutic communication to complete your video for this discussion. Here are some example aspects or you may choose a different one.

• Boundaries
• Transference
• Cultural Sensitivity
• Non-Verbal Meanings
• Resistance
• Alliance
• Listening and Attending

Once you have chosen an aspect, create a video that shows how you would demonstrating active listening, paraphrasing, and mentalizing using the aspect you have chosen.

Your video should demonstrate your knowledge and skills of therapeutic communication in order to do the following:

• Assess the needs of the client
• Respect the client values and beliefs
• Provide support
• Encourage the client to verbalize feelings
• Offer effective communication with the client.

Your job is to move your client to health and show the skills that are involved as you focus on the client.

You can create your own scenario and begin your video at a place where you feel is best.

Examples:

• Thank you for meeting with me Mr. Brown, I understand that you have been having nightmares again.
• Let me clarify what I believe you are saying…
• It states here in your chart that you have been participating in illegal…

Your video should be no longer than 3 minutes in length. You can create your video using Zoom Instructions and the YouTube Instructions.

Initial Post

Along with your video, answer the following prompts in your initial post.

• Discuss the problems/barriers that can arise for the topic you have chosen.
• Identify how these problems/barriers can interfere with therapeutic communication.
• Discuss how this aspect of therapeutic communication might change to enhance alliance building with individuals who are another culture (choose one).
• Submit your video to this discussion forum.

Replies

Reply to one peer’s post by asking the peer one question about their identified cultural barrier as it relates to therapeutic communication. Please do not reply to a student that already has a reply post associated with it.

• What did you notice that would help your peer improve upon their delivery of the therapeutic communication technique?
• Was it convincing? Would you feel comfortable with the technique presented if you were the client?
• Pick out an idea from your peers’ video that you find most interesting and tell how you will use this information in practice.

Please refer to the Discussion Board Grading Rubric for details on how this activity will be graded. The described expectations meet the passing level of 80%. Students are directed to review the Discussion Grading Rubric for criteria which exceed expectations.