Patient-Therapist Interaction: A Case Study
Patient-therapist interaction
The way the therapist and patient interact with each other in a medical setting greatly influence on the therapeutic relationship (Greenhalgh and Heath 2010). According to Crepeau and Garren (2011) to develop a strong therapeutic relationship, the therapist must be able to interact in a way that allows them to enter into the patient’s experience, connect with the emotional feelings and to be willing to modify their own perspective in order to respond to the patient’s needs. Therapeutic interactions, like almost all social interactions, are not only multi-layered but also multi-faceted and as such, they can be examined in numerous ways (Wodak 1997). However, based on its structure, function and context the therapeutic interaction is certainly different from ordinary everyday conversation (Josephson and Bulow, 2014). Physiotherapy interactions are rich in …show more content…
Thomson (2008) used nonparticipant observation method to observe four physiotherapists individually with their patient during treatment session over a period of 6 weeks in a chronic pain unit. Therapeutic interactions were recorded using audio-tape and field notes. The result themes emerged were validated with follow-up interviews of therapists were examined to explore the therapists’ perspectives on how therapeutic interactions influence the success of a pain management program. This study differentiated the characteristics of patient-therapist interaction that had resulted in successful versus unsuccessful outcome. This study conducted within an empirical-analytical framework, but this was only one aspect of the process and suggested additional possibilities for investigation in shared decision-making process that are central to the physical therapy
The way the therapist and patient interact with each other in a medical setting greatly influence on the therapeutic relationship (Greenhalgh and Heath 2010). According to Crepeau and Garren (2011) to develop a strong therapeutic relationship, the therapist must be able to interact in a way that allows them to enter into the patient’s experience, connect with the emotional feelings and to be willing to modify their own perspective in order to respond to the patient’s needs. Therapeutic interactions, like almost all social interactions, are not only multi-layered but also multi-faceted and as such, they can be examined in numerous ways (Wodak 1997). However, based on its structure, function and context the therapeutic interaction is certainly different from ordinary everyday conversation (Josephson and Bulow, 2014). Physiotherapy interactions are rich in …show more content…
Thomson (2008) used nonparticipant observation method to observe four physiotherapists individually with their patient during treatment session over a period of 6 weeks in a chronic pain unit. Therapeutic interactions were recorded using audio-tape and field notes. The result themes emerged were validated with follow-up interviews of therapists were examined to explore the therapists’ perspectives on how therapeutic interactions influence the success of a pain management program. This study differentiated the characteristics of patient-therapist interaction that had resulted in successful versus unsuccessful outcome. This study conducted within an empirical-analytical framework, but this was only one aspect of the process and suggested additional possibilities for investigation in shared decision-making process that are central to the physical therapy