Strategies For Effective Communication And Overcoming Barriers In Counseling With Catherine/Nicos

Model of Communication to be Used in Communicating with the Client

Critically reflect on how communication with Katherine/Nicos should take place. Specifically, what model of communication do you believe would be most appropriate for the client? How would you develop rapport with the client? What communication strategies would you employ to facilitate effective communication, and how would you implement these strategies? What do you believe to be some barriers to effective communication with this client (hint: also consider socio-cultural factors here) and how might you overcome these barriers?

A healthcare practitioner dealing with different types of clients requires the application of specific strategies. The use of professional skills in the communication process is particularly important in that it facilitates the sufficient resolution of challenges affecting an individual by improving information sharing between the healthcare provider and the client. Catherine is a client whose traumatizing experience involving her friend has significantly affected her. As a result of an incident where a stove burned her friend, the sight of a stove seems to scare her. She seems to be suffering from a post-traumatic stress syndrome. Considering her experience, cultural background and my professional practice communicating Catherine as a counselor would require me to use my professional skills not only to communicate and help relieve her stress but also solve any emerging communication challenges in the counseling process. Dealing with Catherine’s issue effectively requires both the use of effective communication skills and collaborative therapy.

The model of communication to be used in communicating with the client. With an understanding of the importance of the communication model adopted in the success of the counseling exercise, I would assume a transactional model of communicating with the client. Transaction model of communication refers to two-way communication between the sender and receiver of information. Under this model, each party to the conversation alternatively sends and receives information. The interaction with my client would be interpersonal which makes transaction model the most effective for this setting. The effectiveness of this model is based on the fact that the communication process would require the input of both the sender and the receiver interchangeably (Blais, Hayes, Kozier & Erb, 2015). This model would allow seeking clarifications and getting feedback from my client. It would also let us keep the conversation alive.

Developing rapport with the client. The effectiveness of the communication process would also be determined by the existing rapport between me as and my client. It would influence the extent to which she would be willing to share with me about her experiences. As s professional I understand that it is essential to build trust and establish good communication with my clients. Through rapport building, the outcome of the communication process would be positive and satisfactory to my client. I would, therefore, use the following strategies to build rapport with my clients. First I would seek to know more about my client. This would involve talking about her life interests, hobbies, family, friends as a way of taking her mind off of the issue that she is dealing with. This would not only allow us to find common areas of interest, but it would also shift her mind to happier things she has experienced (O’hagan et al., 2014). Secondly, I would show empathy for the situation that she is currently facing. By empathizing with her, I would indicate that I do care and feel for her. Thirdly I would do that by displaying a high level of confidence. By being confident, I would reassure my client that I am entirely in control of the situation which would make her less worried about any adverse outcome. I would use effective communication from the start to the end of the process. Through effective communication with my client, I would establish a friendship bond and trust with my client. Effective communication would include listening to all the views, assumption and concerns for my client before arriving at any conclusion. Finally, I would also build rapport by showing respect to my client concerning her level of intelligence, perceptions, and opinions which might be different from mine.

Developing Rapport with the Client

Communication strategies. The blueprint for transmitting information between the sender and the receiver is known as a communication strategy. The choice of a communication strategy is influenced by the desired outcome of a communication process. The commonly used communication strategies are verbal, non-verbal and visual communication strategies. The three are effectively used in various situations. Because of the nature of the communication with Catherine, I would use both verbal communication and non-verbal communication strategies because I feel they would be the most effective. The reasons why I would choose non-verbal is because it would allow me to obtain feedback with much ease, save time and would provide an opportunity for me to fully understand my client and seek any clarifications on unclear areas. The flexibility associated with verbal communication would also be one of the reasons (Riley, 2015). On the other hand, non-verbal communication would complement the verbal communication to make the communication process more efficient.

Implementation of the communication strategies. I would implement verbal communication orally by asking questions regarding her experiences, seeking clarifications, explaining the reasons for the experience and explaining to her how she can deal with the situation on a one-on-one setup. I would implement non-verbal strategy through the use of non-verbal cues to drive home my point. These would include maintaining eye contact with my client as well as the use of facial expressions and gestures. 

Barriers to effective communication. Anything that affects the transmission of a message between a sender and recipient distorts the meaning of a message is referred to as a barrier to effective communication. Due to the fact that the client comes from a different cultural background, it is evident that socio-cultural barriers are some of the factors that will affect the communication process between my client and I. For example, these barriers might include taboos and emotional barriers such that the client might find it hard expressing her emotions on specific topics in the course of the conversation (Schuster, Schuster & Nykolyn, 2010). The effectiveness of the communication process might also be affected by cultural differences. These might be witnessed through differences in the expression of emotions and differences in social interaction norms for the indigenous. Additionally, they may also include non-verbal communication physical barriers such as the inability to, see and understand body language and non-verbal cues. These are likely to make the communication process less effective. The use of jargons related to my field could also be another barrier to effective communication between my client and me. It could also be as a result of different accents and language differences. Finally, cultural differences might also lead to prejudices and expectations, likely to result in stereotyping and incorrect assumptions. Such are a significant hindrance to effective communication. Psychological barriers such s the emotional state of the client might also be a barrier to effective communication(Schuster, Schuster & Nykolyn, 2010).

Communication Strategies

Overcoming Communication barriers. These communication barriers can be overcome through the use of simple language void of professional jargons, learning about other cultures to identify possible points of misunderstandings and to understand what different cultures entail and the associated cultural differences (Sheldon,2008). They can also be overcome by learning the about the best strategies for accommodating cultural differences, seeking to understand my client before the counseling process to ensure that the communication meets her needs.

Interprofessional practice. Effective therapy for my client would require the input of other professionals.I would, therefore, communicate with psychotherapists to help in the examination of Catherine’s subconscious mind, psychiatric nurse, mental health worker, a Psychologist among others. I would mainly discuss details regarding the issue affecting my client without going into much personal information. For example, I would discuss matters to do with her experiences before the development of her current mental disorder, her current behavioral changes, their magnitude and impact on her social life. I would also discuss the incidence that led to the development of her current condition. Some of the ethical considerations include; ensuring that the communications are in the best interest of my client, preserving the confidentiality of the information about the client, publishing oral or written information about a client only with their consent, respecting the dignity and rights of my client and ensuring that the sharing of information does not harm the client (Webb,2011).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the communication process with Catherine would be more appropriate if carried out through the transactional communication model. It would also require the establishment of rapport between my client and me through the use of effective communication skills, touching on my client’s personal life and respecting divergent opinions and views. To make the communication process more effective, I would also apply both verbal and non-verbal communication strategies. These two would be the most effective because of the nature of the communication involved. The communication process is also likely to be affected by communication barriers such as emotional barriers, cultural differences, the use of jargons, stereotypes among others. These challenges can be solved through the use of simple language, understanding of the existing cultural differences adopting accommodative strategies for different cultural values and assumptions as well as seeking to understand my client to identify communication strategies that suit her.

References

Blais, K., Hayes, J. S., Kozier, B., & Erb, G. L. (2015). Professional nursing practice: Concepts and perspectives (p. 530). NJ: Prentice Hall.

O’hagan, S., Manias, E., Elder, C., Pill, J., Woodward?Kron, R., McNamara, T., … & McColl, G. (2014). What counts as effective communication in nursing? Evidence from nurse educators’ and clinicians’ feedback on nurse interactions with simulated patients. Journal of advanced nursing, 70(6), 1344-1355.

Riley, J. B. (2015). Communication in nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences.

Sheldon, L. K. (2008). Communication for Nurses: Talking with Patients. 2nd ed. Jones and Bartlett.

Schuster, C. R., Schuster, P., & Nykolyn, L. (2010). Communication for Nurses: How to Prevent Harmful Events and Promote Patient Safety. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Co.

Webb, L. (2011). Nursing: Communication skills in practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.