Importance of Therapeutic Interactions in Occupational Therapy

This document discusses the importance of therapeutic interactions in occupational therapy and how it contributes to patient-centric care and recovery. It includes descriptions of critical incidents, valuable learnings, areas requiring improvement, and personal opinions. The document emphasizes the significance of therapeutic communication, cultural competency, and family involvement in providing effective care.

Running head: THERAPEUTIC INTERACTIONS
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

1
THERAPEUTIC INTERACTIONS
The brief summary of the learning experience
During my posting in the rehabilitation center as an occupational therapist, I had
encountered many incidents through which I gained the understanding of the importance of
therapeutic interaction with the patient before providing patient-centric care. As an
occupational therapist, it is my responsibility to prioritize the needs of the patient to provide
accurate support and care for their recovery which can be identified through prominent
therapeutic interactions and interpersonal skills. During my posting before interacting with the
client, I was unaware of the potential power of therapeutic communication, cultural competency
and family involvement which I gained the understanding of these values.
Description of critical incidents:
During my posting in the rehabilitation center, I was unaware of the therapeutic
communications and I encountered a patient who had mobility issues because of the lower limb
injury. Before engaging in therapeutic communication with the patient I started intervention.
Since he was anxious he refused to corporate in the intervention but I incorporated his family
members in the process. The second incident was when I was appointed to provide care to an
Aboriginal woman with the hand injury and before providing care without engagement I started
the intervention where she felt offended.
The most valuable things:
The first incidence helped me to identify after client interaction, the leading opportunity
of proper therapeutic communication with the patient. The second incident also helped me to

2
THERAPEUTIC INTERACTIONS
gain the understanding that therapeutic communication is an important part of the cultural
competency. Another valuable learning from this was that to support a recovery of the patient it
is crucial to be empathetic and compassionate to provide care to the patient so that they feel
empowered and confident (Fan & Taylor, 2016). In this case, my strengths are to incorporate a
patient’s family members in the treatment process and the ability to promote the collaborative
practice.
Areas requiring improvement and actions required:
In the current context, two areas of professional practice require improvement is
therapeutic international and cultural competency (Schwind et al., 2016). To improve these areas
training and workshops are required to build proper therapeutic interactions for providing
culturally safe and responsive patient-centered practice and achieve high patient satisfaction. In
the current context, the steps I am taking to achieve learning objective is involving myself in
the training process of building therapeutic interaction with the client with the assistance of my
coworkers and my supervisor. I am reforming my cultural values and beliefs to provide support
for faster recovery. Moreover, I am engaging myself in the cross-cultural workshops to gain the
understanding of the cultural values and beliefs of others to provide care.
Personal opinion:
From the learning experiences I have identified that therapeutic communication is a
crucial part safe, culturally responsive patient centric care which is required to improve through
training and workshops. The experience of training and workshop would help me to incorporate
the learning my future practice. My personal strength is collaborative practice and incorporation
of the patient’s family members which I would incorporate in my future practice.

3
THERAPEUTIC INTERACTIONS
References:
Fan, C. W., & Taylor, R. R. (2016). Assessing therapeutic communication during rehabilitation:
The Clinical Assessment of Modes. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 70(4),
7004280010p1-7004280010p10.
Schwind, J. K., McCay, E., Metersky, K., & Martin, J. (2016). Development and
implementation of an advanced therapeutic communication course: An interprofessional
collaboration. Journal of Nursing Education, 55(10), 592-597.