About Me

Hello y'all! I'm an international speech and language pathology student at City University London! I'm currently in my final year of my awe-inspiring journey to become an SLP . My hometown is a little island in the Middle East called Bahrain, worlds away from the busy city life of London. However, I decided move here to pursue my aspiration to help kids with special needs, especially those with communication difficulties. I've always had a soft spot for children, and watching the incidence of disorders such as Autism increase by the day impelled me to become a speech pathologist. I've recently had time to do some reading, which I spent mostly pondering over research papers in the field of Speech and Language Pathology, and I realized that a lot of impactive research is being archived and covered in dust. That's why I decided to share my views and reads with you all! Have a lovely day! Love, D

Friday 28 December 2012

Consoling Emotions


Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you are all having a fab time with your loved ones, making lots of new memories x 

As the end of the year is approaching, it finally hit me: my studies are nearing its end! That is when I decided to face the dreaded pile of papers that need to be filed and organized. Sigh.




Sleeves up, hair in a bun, Red Bull in one hand and a hole-puncher in the other; I was ready. I must admit, although some bits of organizing my papers were as dreadful as I thought, there were moments of laughter, awe, and fulfillment rummaging through old reflective logs, feedback, and coursework.

I came across a reflective log I wrote about an experience I had in my first placement, which was at a neurological rehab ward. Reading the log, I realized how terrified I was at the point. It was about a session I had with an ambitious and determined 45-year-old lady who suffered from a stroke and was just told that she will not be able to go back to her dedicated job as a solicitor.

I remember feeling helpless and useless while watching her shout, laugh, and cry at the same time. I was also frightened that she’d throw something at me as she dropped everything on the counter onto the floor. At the same time, I had gone mute. I was not able to console her with anything calming or nice, as if I swallowed my tongue. I did not call anyone because I sensed that she needed to let it all out and have someone listen.

I remember leaving that room in complete shock, and the first thing I wanted to do is write about it. Reflecting on the session, I realized that I was unable to support her.

Have you ever thought about the role of counseling in speech and language pathology?

SLPs very commonly work with patients or carers who may be dealing with denial or grief. They may be tearful during a session, unable to engage in therapy, demonstrate strong emotions, or simply tell us they’re feeling low. They may also be struggling to adjust to their or their spouse’s/children’s difficulties at home and share this with us during the appointment. This is when our skills in counseling are crucial. Not only does it comfort the patient, addressing these issues may also allow therapy to follow on more effectively.

"Feelings are a large part of the communication process…." (Aronson,1990)
For example, people with aphasia make up a large proportion of our caseload, and research has proven that their condition affects their quality of life. Dr. Katerina Hilari conducted a study that concluded that people with aphasia reported worse quality of life post-stroke in comparison to those without aphasia, participating in fewer activities. You can access this research for free here to find out more.  As a result of this deteriorated quality of life and major change to their typical life pre-stroke, it is inevitable that you will come across some sessions with your patients with aphasia, in which they will complain about something they can’t do anymore, feel low, and not respond to therapy. The counseling skills associated with managing such situations is a fundamental part of the role of a speech therapist.

Counseling ‘focuses on the individuals self-growth, encourages the person to make his or her own choices and to take responsibility for them (Brumfitt, 2010)

Who may need counseling?

Anyone. Most of the patients attending therapy will have some sort of communication or swallowing difficulty, and lots of difficulties can arise because of this in their social and personal life.

Keep in mind that your responses need to be appropriate for their level of understanding. Counseling skills may also be needed for children with communication difficulties and adolescents experiencing difficulties in school (e.g. bullying, loneliness).

A study on emotional health by Dr. Nicola Botting demonstrated a higher rate of anxiety and depression in adolescents with SLI, and therefore, they may be one of the common cases in need of counseling. To find out more about the study and the responses of the participants with SLI to mood questionnaires and anxiety scales, click here.


                                              VALUABLE COUNSELING SKILLS

1. Empathy – sensitivity to patient’s feelings and ability to demonstrate understanding verbally (not silently) in response to their feelings.
2. Acceptance
3. Warmth
4. Respect
5. Acceptance
6. Genuineness
7. Setting up a suitable environment (time/privacy/ethics/safety)

Counseling tips

1. An important tip for your own wellbeing – You are not expected to ‘fix’ things. You are not responsible for what’s going wrong, and you do not have to stress about finding a solution. Adapting the skills of an understanding, responsive, comforting, and sympathetic listener is what is expected of your role as a speech therapist.

In a recent tutorial at university, our tutor, Dr. Madeline Cruice, was sharing an experience with a descriptive study she had done on exploring how people with chronic aphasia describe their quality of life (positives and negatives). You can access her paper for free here too (interesting read!) Anyways, her research methodology involved interviewing around 30 participants with aphasia and asking them questions like “What things take quality away from your life?” and “What would make the quality of your life worse?” Madeline told us that this involved listening to a lot of upsetting circumstances and tears, and it would have been emotionally draining if she were to feel responsible for fixing all their hardships.

2. The patient may feel comfortable talking to the therapist about lots of issues. If a serious issue was raised during the session that you think will affect the patient’s health or wellbeing, someone who can handle the situation better should be consulted, such as a doctor or a counselor.

3. Use body language to show sympathy (e.g. nodding, facial expressions…)

4. Sometimes a full session may need to be dedicated to counseling. Let it be. It will probably improve the patient’s mood and attitude, allowing therapy to follow on more effectively.


5. Do not put yourself in their shoes. Understand the person’s perspective and point of view


Thanks for reading everyone! Keep an eye out for my upcoming posts :)

For those of you who are speech therapists, I hope this post has helped you have a better perspective in counseling in our field and what is expected of you!

And for those of you who aren't speech therapists, these skills are still relevant, valuable life skills. You are bound to be kept in situations with friends and family, or even at work, where someone pours their heart out to you, and it is important to consider your response, as they are very vulnerable at that point!

Enjoy the rest of the holidays and Happy New Year in advance fellow readers! 

Dana xx

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