Therapists’ Expressions of Agreement in Therapeutic Conversations With Chinese Children With ASD: Strategies, Sequential Positions and Functions

Based on conversations between 10 Chinese children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and five therapists in the context of Naturalistic Intervention, this study investigated the therapists’ agreement expressions in this typical setting. The study found that (1) the therapists mainly used four agreement strategies: acknowledgment, positive evaluation, repetition and blending. These four strategies could be used individually or in combination. The first three strategies and their combinations were used frequently during the therapeutic conversation. (2) With the major occurrences in the post-expansion position, the agreement expressions in the therapeutic conversation mainly performed three functions, namely, creating a supportive therapeutic relationship, serving as positive reinforcers and implementing interventions pertinent to communication skills. (3) This study proposed that the therapists’ preferred use of agreement expressions in the intervention process could be explained by the features of Naturalistic Intervention.

Facilitators and Barriers of Mother Engagement in a Home-based Parenting Program Following Concerns of Child Maltreatment

The current study aimed to explore mothers’ perceptions of facilitators and barriers to engagement in the HoPES program, an intensive home-visiting intervention for families with young children identified as having child maltreatment concerns. Seven mothers who had participated in the program participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences. Thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo Version 12. Themes relating to facilitators of engagement included the following: (1) clinician behaviours; (2) treatment relevance/acceptability; (3) strong therapeutic relationship; (4) mothers’ cognitions and beliefs about treatment and (5) program delivery. Themes relating to barriers to engagement included the following: (1) contextual/external barriers to treatment; (2) treatment relevance/acceptability; (3) mothers’ cognitions and beliefs about treatment and (4) program processes. This study highlights the important role which services and clinicians have in engaging parents at risk of child maltreatment. Specifically, the prioritisation of the therapeutic relationship through all intervention processes, and the utilisation of strength-based approaches, may facilitate engagement.

Kompetensi Supervisor Dalam Supervisi Guru Bimbingan Konseling (Suatu Tinjauan Studi Pustaka)

This study aims to describe the competence of supervisors in the supervision of counseling guidance teachers. This research method uses a literature study which contains the concepts and theories used based on the available literature, especially from articles published in various scientific journals. Furthermore, the data analysis technique used interpretive descriptive analysis. The results of this study indicate that the supervision of guidance and counseling teachers is proven to be effective in increasing the skills, understanding of counseling teachers and able to increase the mastery of counseling practice. Where with the implementation of counseling guidance supervision carried out by supervisors, it can help counseling guidance teachers to improve and further develop skills in counseling guidance service skills. The supervisory role requires many different skills and values from the therapeutic relationship. Supervisors must have the education and training to carry out their role so that counseling teachers receive regular feedback so that they have a basis on which to hone their skills.

Humor, Well-Being, and Health Literacy

Health influences general well-being, and well-being affects future health. Oral health professionals report a decreased well-being and a higher burnout. This chapter measures and evaluates the perception of the health professional and the patient about factors of stress and well-being. It evaluates the strategies used to overcome the anxiety and stress that involve the meeting. Two surveys applied by questionnaire, with face-to-face and online dissemination, the first to patients and second to dentists, were done. Of the 245 patients, 46% consider themselves to be anxious. The instruments used in a clinical environment cause discomfort, and their noise is the predominant cause for this fear. Of the 306 dentists, 80% show the ability to face difficult situations. Finally, 90% have an awareness that contributes to the well-being of others. Oral health professionals should prepare themselves with techniques to develop a therapeutic relationship that is more positive, calm, and less stressful.

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, Who's the Communicationally Competent One of All? and the Other Side of the Mirror

This chapter focuses on health professional competence and consequent evaluation by patients who establish with them a therapeutic relationship. Based on a literature review and proposals of best practices to implement in health encounters, it is concluded that competent communication has to give attention to verbal and non-verbal dimensions and to the patient's expectations. Results reveal that the competences are empathy, respect, inclusion of the patient in choices and decisions, confirmation of understanding, use of plain language, and positivity. On the patients' side, some common expectations are associated with the humanization of relationships, such as the manifestation of patience by professionals to the patients' queries and the adoption of personalized communication. The communication lapses are more related to poor attitudes of health professionals, and the patients' expectations can vary depending on their sociodemographic attributes. Different communication styles of health professionals generate different evaluations and expectations of patients.

To Be, or Not to Be Healthy

This chapter, as the starting point of the book, (re)constructs the substantive setting and puzzle of health communication, being a reflection and discussion based on the literature review on fundamentals and practices of health communication and the contributions and implications of informative and persuasive messages and communication practices to health. The literature review results show the essential role that communication has assumed in the context of health, having several positive effects, such as the treatment effectiveness, the improvement of the therapeutic relationship and health literacy, the penetration of certain health issues in the public agenda. It has also highlighted the need to strengthen and rethink, in the name of individual and social well-being, the relationship between health and communication. Particularly, in the therapeutic relationship, the need for the health professional to have adequate communication competences to interact with patients is emphasized. Additionally, the media prove to be a versatile tool in the achievement of health promotion aims.

Communication on All Sides

People seek to solve problems, either through cognitive or emotional means or both, including behavioral ones. Health professionals have a specific mission to care and heal and they do so through their skills, behaviors, knowledge, and beliefs. To fulfill this mission of promoting satisfactory results in health relationships, the therapeutic relationship can be approached in several ways and based on different models. If there are trends of great centralization of consultation in the health profession, an effort has been made for patient-centered decision. The path of this relationship in health allows for a mutually beneficial interaction with commitment and better health results. Without wishing to be exhaustive and knowing that many models are left out, the authors explore the evolution of models applied to health throughout history.

Eureka

The health communication model—assertiveness, clarity, and positivity, which in a more synthetic way is called “ACP Model”—allows in an aggregated and interdependent way the use of communication skills in the health relationship, which allow, throughout the consultation, the establishment of a relationship of greater proximity, trust, openness, balanced and with results for health, even after the interaction ends. Among the results obtained in nine focus groups, consisting of 55 participants, of which 25 are specialists in health literacy and the remaining 30 have not previously experienced the ACP model, all are unanimous in the importance of developing communication skills in the therapeutic relationship through assertiveness, clarity, and positivity as a cognitive script of previous skills. It is also confirmed that this aggregate and interdependent group of communication skills increases the level of knowledge and understanding of the patient's health, thus promoting better health outcomes.