Therapeutic use of self or conscious use of self is often recognized as an important therapeutic tool or by some as a core skill of occupational therapy. Two events have recently renewed my interest in therapuetic use of self. Completing a thesis on the supervision of occupational therapists in New Zealand – where one of the important functions of supervision was seen as looking at ‘me as a therapist’ and then running into an ‘ex’ occupational therapist at an occupational therapy awareness week activity who stated that the skill she continues to use and values most from her training is that of therapeutic/conscious use of self. So what is it? Mosey states that conscious use of self is “the use of oneself in such a way that one becomes an effective tool in the evaluation and intervention process” (Mosey, 1986, p. 199). And sees that it “involves a planned interaction with another person in order to alleviate fear or anxiety, provide reassurance, obtain necessary information, provide information, give advice, and assist the other individual to gain more appreciation of, more expression of, and more functional use of his or her latent inner resources” (p.199).
“conscious use of self includes but is greater than rapport and the art of practice” (Mosey, 1986, p. 199). It is not spontaneous, or unconscious but requires forethought – what the message will be and how you will get it across.
What does it involve?
Understanding Neutrality/empathy Caring Trust
How do you do it ? with rapport, insight, patience, humour, energy, honesty, voice and body language Is it “the exploitation of personal characteristics which are of benefit to the therapeutic relationship” (Hagedorn, 2000, p. 61) …umh?
So what do you think? …how about posting on any or all of the following
What do you see as the key elements of therapeutic use of self?
Keilhofner and Forsyth indicate that the therapeutic relationship is synonymous with therapeutic use of self – is it ?
and …….. Is this skill any better developed in occupational therapist than in others – if so how?
References:
Hagedorn, R. (2000). Tools of practice in occupational therapy: A structured approach to core skills and processes.
Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
Kielhofner, G. & Forsyth, K. (2002). A model of human occupation: Theory and Application (3rd. ed.). Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Mosey, A. (1986). Psychosocial components of occupational therapy. New Psychosocial components of occupational therapy.
New York: Raven Press.
People have a lot to fear, they fear ridicule because some of the language is unscientific. Empathy is not measurable. They fear they could be seen as bad practioners if they ‘dont get it’. So they resist it. Mostly i think they fear that this approach may challenge them, most people have never learned how to make challenges opportunities. They refuse to expose themselves to risk but then they never get the reward.
What a great topic. I am searching for OT articles about this as i find it really fascinating and agree that this is the most important thing. The therapeutic relationship is the vehicle through which we work and so influences the result hugely.
There doesn’t seem to be much out there on it, but i have just started my search so wish me luck!
Great concept for a website. I have recently reviewed the text by Renee Taylor, 2008, The Intentional Relationship: Occupational Therapy and Use of Self. I hope to incorporate many of the activities into my courses here at Saginaw Valley State U. You may find it to be useful for your endeavor as well. Tim Blasius, EdD, MOT, OTR, LMSW
The publisher for the book is F.A. Davis and is available at http://www.fadavis .com.
Hi Tim
Thanks for your comments, I’ll see if I can get hold of the book. I always mean to add to this posting as interestingly enough it is the post that most people look at (so my blog statistics say) …. but they tend to look and not comment !!. So it’s great to hear from you.
Jackie
Hi guys,
This is a topic that im interested in and when researching it more i havn’t really come across and critiques of it!! Does anyone have any idea of where to look?
Hi Amy,
Your post has me thinking and likewise I am not sure that I have seen any critiques or recent research( into the concept).
I was at a presentation today and the person was talking about emotional intelligence and you could see the links between the concept of emotional intelligence and therapeutic use of self.
I always think that I need to follow up my supervision research – perhaps one day.
I’ll keep an eye out but perhaps someone else can help.
Jackie
i absolutely love your site, i’m a 2nd year OT student from Scotland and i think that communication is the most important aspect of OT the ability to give something of yourself to enable others is skill that i often feel is imbred rather than learned, as in nursing university can give you the skills but i feel that you either have the ability to CARE or not. As many of us know through life we encounter many people who are in a profession that cares but dont do so themselves. Thankyou for sharing some of yourself with me it has been so very useful.
In response to Mr. Blasius’ comment on Renee Taylor,
I am currently in a MOT program and my professor is using this very book you mentioned in your post. As a student, I highly recommend the book. I found the early chapters which cover the various types of responding to be very helpful. I am always looking for more literature applicable to OT, and any references would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, I’m an OT student in Canada. I’m currently doing a placement at a rehab hospital. I found the information you have put here are very useful. My supervisor always suggest me in order to build a therapeutic relationship with patients, I have to ask question in regards to the therapeutic use of self. Could you suggest me any questions or topics that you would ask or talk to a patient to develop therapeutic relationship?
Hi Jackie, I thought I would comment because you mentioned above that people look but don’t comment on this post. I’m an OT student in Scotland doing my dissertation on the therapeutic relationship in OT in forensic settings and am shocked by the lack of literature for something that is so important to OT. In my opinion, the therapeutic use of self is necessary in the development of a therapeutic relationship although there are other factors that come into play and this is what I’m trying to get information on for my dissertation. I think the use of self in a forensic setting can be very challenging for therapists yet is so vital for patients in forensic settings, perhaps even more so than in other settings…what are your thoughts on this? Rachel
Hi Jackie,
I am an OT student in the United States of America, New York more specifically. Through my education I have learned about therapeutic use of self and its benefits on the relationship between patient and therapist. Included in those courses were topics such as religion and faith, culture and empathy. I think all three are vital to using therapeutic use of self effectively. Many patients are not going to open up to a therapist who is very guarded and “cold.” What do others think about the relationship between religion and faith and therapeutic use of self?
Hi there. I realise I’m responding to an old entry but I’ve just become really interested in this topic. I’m an OT working in Social Services in England, with previous experience in acute and community psychiatry. I’m more and more intrigued by the nature of the therapeutic relationship, from an experiential / felt perspective. My question would be: what is the relationship between self and personality? For myself, I feel that as my experience has deepened I’ve come to rely less and less on personality in making relationships with clients, and more on something that is deeper, underlying, perhaps less intrusive… whatever is there when I sit with a very still awareness of the situation and hold a space without necessarily occupying too much of it myself… Does that make any sense? I’d be very glad to get into dialogue with anyone in whom this strikes a chord!