For class today, we were asked to listen to a podcast before
class titled The First Cow. The speaker was Abeny Kucha, a woman from
southeastern Africa who has an amazing story. Her village was destroyed by war
and for years she bounced from refugee camp to refugee camp walking and
traveling for over eight years. Luckily she and her family made it to America.
Listening to her story really opened my eyes to just how lucky I am to have the
life that I have. When they first arrived they were taken to this apartment and
told it was their new home… she expressed that the word home meant more to her
than most could understand. Her children had never had a home, they had never
been able to sleep in peace without any worry. She spoke of how they had no
idea what orange soda was or what a fire alarm was, things that you never even
second guess or need to think about can be completely foreign to others. She
also mentioned how they had two couches in the living room and how no one in
her family had ever seen a couch… a couch! We as Americans could learn so much
from people who live and grow up in areas such as the place Abeny is from. I
feel that we would all appreciate life and everything we have so much more. One
last thing I wanted to mention was towards the end of the podcast she mentioned
how she was able to enroll her children into a school and when the first day
came she walked them to the bus stop and watched as they loaded up and the bus
drove off. She mentions how she just stood there for a while with tears pouring
down her face and how she was terrified that they may never come back that she
might never see them again. I would guess not a single one of us would ever
have to experience those thoughts as we send our children off to school, not
that we don’t worry about them, but we know that the bus is taking them to
school and bringing them home afterwards. Abeny however did not know this the
way we do, so put yourself in her shoes and imagine how it might feel. I am so
glad I was able to listen to her story and emotionally it truly touched my
heart and reminded me how blessed I am as well as reminded me to do better by
others especially those who may look or seem different, you never know the pain
behind someone’s eyes.
For this post I decided to discuss just what a therapeutic relationship is and what it entails. A therapeutic relationship is defined as the interaction between an occupational therapist practitioner and their client. Therapeutic relationships differ from everyday relationships, in that they are key in facilitating the healing and rehabilitation process. They also differ from the typical relationship in that it's not about both people but strictly about the client and meeting their needs. Developing and sustaining therapeutic relationships involves the ability to develop trust, demonstrate empathy, understand verbal and nonverbal communication, and the use of active listening. Trust is one of the most important aspects in any type of relationship to me. Once trust is obtained the client feels more comfortable with sharing personal information which in turn greatly benefits the intervention process. Developing empathy is another huge part of this process, the client must believe tha...
I love this post, Cameron - very insightful and full of OT-think!
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