How Communication Plays a Vital Role for the Dermal Therapist in AllAspect ofCare - Essay Example

The Role of communication for Dermal Therapists Name Date The Role of Communication for Dermal Therapists Communication is a crucial element of therapy since it helps the therapist and the patient develop a connection. It plays a great and vital role in any therapeutic treatment and for any therapist. Effective therapeutic communication especially when dealing with clients from cross-cultures is important since it is associated with positive results, reduced frustration for patients, patient satisfaction, capability of getting informed and valid consent, and improved level of compliance to scheduled treatment programs (College of Physical Therapists pf British Columbia, 2012). Dermal therapy is a form of dry skin therapy that involves therapeutic treatment on issues associated with the dermis, which is the layer of the skin between the subcutaneous tissues and the epidermis. Dermal therapist need to connect and create effective relations with their patients so that they can assist them in healing and managing their health issues. This paper will focus on the role that communication plays for dermal therapists as they carry out their roles in all aspects of care related to dermal issues. The Role of Communication for Dermal Therapists Therapeutic communication should involve both verbal and non-verbal communication. The preferred method or modes of communication to be used during therapy are based on patient’s preferences and culture. The goal is to enhance the outcome of the program. In dermal therapy, these two modes of communication helps therapists create a relationship with their clients that allow them to focus on making them feel comfortable in their skin without compromising cultural values and beliefs. This form of relationship helps open up the lines of communication such that the patient is able to openly communicate with the therapist about issues that may be bothering them and seek advice on how to take care and use skin treatment (Felland, 2015). This form of patient-therapist relation gives the patients the will to talk willingly and openly and ask questions about changes that they may be experiencing on their skin or any other insecurities that may be having associated with their skin health. According to Felland (2012), communication helps a dermal therapist to identify the patient’s preferences when it comes to the forms of beauty and cosmetic treatment available for them. Different patients will prefer different treatment items including creams, lotions, and scented ornon-scented skin care treatment products. Dermal therapist can only identify these preferences if the patients are able to openly communicate about their preferences. Issues of beauty especially the skin are sensitive to some individuals, and some people may have insecurities about their skin that they may not be comfortable disclosing them to their therapists. However, with open communication, trust and confidence are built between the client and the therapist to a point where they are able to talk freely about their beauty and skin issues. Effective therapeutic communication requires that the therapists have an understanding of patients’ experiences and needs as they express them. In addition, communication allows therapists to convey information to which the patient can accept and relate. Communication is an intrinsic element of people’s nature and any individual can communicate in one way or another. It creates trust between therapists and clients creating long lasting relations. However, it is important that the therapist creates a good first impression by creating conducive conditions and choosing the right words during the beginning of the therapy program (Kourkouta & Papathanasiou, 2014). When therapist uses the right form of communication, they are able to portray kindness and courtesy to their patients, which in turn increases the chances of a long lasting therapeutic relationship. Communication helps dermal therapists in preventing any misunderstanding or conflict that may occur between them and their patients. When two individuals are interacting, they are bound to get into misunderstandings that lead to conflict. However, with effective and open communication, it is easy for therapists to identify any signs of discontentment and dissatisfaction with the therapy sessions and try to prevent or manage them before they escalate into conflict that may destroy the trust between the patient and the therapist. Individuals going through beauty or skin therapy usually have some expectations and goals they hope to achieve after therapy. Communication between dermal therapists and the patients allows them to identify patients’ beauty goals and expectation in a way that they are able to focus on them and find the best ways and treatment to assist the patients in achieving their expectations and goals. Communication can also help therapists in convincing patients in considering some treatment and avoid others. When patients and therapists interact through communication, it is easy for crucial information to be passed on to the therapists (College of Physical Therapists of British Columbia, 2012). This information can be past medical or health information. With the knowledge of the patients past skin and beauty health conditions, therapists are able to know the best treatment and management strategies and consequently advice them accordingly giving sound reasons why they should consider using some treatment and avoid others. Communication also enhances cross-cultural empathy between dermal therapists and their patients. Empathy in therapy involves a situation where the therapist creates an appropriate and considerable emotional distance with their patients to avoid subjectivity towards the client, which may compromise the right professional therapy. With communication, it is easy to create the boundaries of empathy in a way that does not destroy the trust and respect between patients and therapists. Additionally, communication helps therapists identify the personal boundaries of their patients and ensure that they do not go beyond them and end up offending them (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2006). It also helps therapists develop strategies between them and their clients so that they are able to provide dermal therapy that focuses on the patients’ beauty and health well-being. Dermal therapists interact with many different clients from cross-cultures that have different values, beliefs and attitude. Effective communication allows therapists to identify these values, belief, and attitude and then develop strategies that ensure that they interact respecting their beliefs and values. The techniques used by therapist in many cases, such as active listening, create some autonomy on the client. These techniques of communication help therapists to avoid creating assumptions about patients who mostly are strangers but instead they are able to facilitate expressions that are therapeutic (Sumari & Jalal, 2008). This strategy makes the clients more comfortable to be able to share the information that they may be difficult for them to disclose. Communication also helps create therapists with a holistic perspective of the patient culture and the people surrounding them. Through communication, it is easy to understand a patient’s network including friends and family among other in their culture who may affect the way they respond to the dermal therapy. In most cases, people going through skin issues may go through verbal mockery due to their conditions, which may affect them emotionally (Sumari & Jalal, 2008). Communication helps therapist identify if clients are in anyway experiencing emotional issues that may be as a result of their skin condition in relation to their cultures and give them guidance on how they can overcome such reaction towards them from their network. Dermal therapist gets to interact with individuals from different cross-cultures. This means that therapist needs to have a wide knowledge of different cultures including their values, behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. By communicating with people of different cross-cultures, therapist are able to have this knowledge, which they use to ensure that they interact with their clients in a manner that portrays competence and respect to cultures of their clients (Sumari & Jalal, 2008). In addition, therapists are able to use this cross-cultural knowledge to advocate for their clients from different cultures while identifying strategies that will help the patients be comfortable using skin care therapies that may not be their traditions. Therapeutic communication where cross cultures are involved guides therapists in identifying sensitive issues that may affect an individual depending on the culture in which they are from especially in matters related to beauty. This way, when they are providing therapy treatment to an individual, they will know how to handle their situation ensuring that the sensitively respond to them without hurting or showing any disrespect (Cole, Espin & Rothblum 2012). Communication also helps therapists in identifying the non-verbal communication techniques that they can use depending on their clients’ culture that will not interfere with the therapy sessions. Effective communication with patients from different cultures gives the therapists a chance to identify some traditions that people of different cultures may opt to take to treat their skin conditions. In most cases, clients may tend to seek this traditional treatment from their family of friend for physical and emotional help for their skin issues if they feel that their therapists are ignoring some vague somatic or explicit physical complaints that they make and end up getting misleading advice about their conditions. Often, the ignorance of such complaints occur because therapists assume some issues which may not be relevant in their culture but may be very crucial in another person’s culture (Cole, Espin & Rothblum 2012). However, with effective and open communication, clients are usually able to comfortably express their dissatisfaction allowing therapists to be awareof the cultural issues that may influence therapy and the process of treatment and healing. Conclusion Communication in beauty and skin therapy is as crucial as in any other form of physical therapy especially where therapists have to interact with patients from a cross-culture population. The role of effective communication for therapist is that it gives them the ability to identify patients’ preferences when it comes to their skin and beautygoals and expectations. Communication also opens up lines of communication creating trust and confidence between the patients and therapists, where clients regardless of their cultures are able to talk comfortably and express their expectation s, preferences and fears regarding their conditions. Communication also helps therapists identify the non-verbal techniques that they can use or not use depending on a patient's culture and also identify traditions that may influence therapy both positively and negatively. This way, they are able to know the techniques to ensure they show respect to individuals culture at the same time enhance their beauty and skin condition through therapy. References Cole, E., Espin, O.M. & Rothblum. E. D. (2012). Refugee women and their mental health: Shattered societies, shattered lives. New York: Routledge. College of Nurses of Ontario. (2012). Therapeutic Nurse-Client Relationship. Toronto: College of Nurses of Ontario. College of Physical therapists of British Columbia. (2012). Making a connection: communication in the TherapeuticRelationship. Vancouver: College of Physical therapists of British Columbia. Felland, K. (2015). Communication: A key to your treatment. Anchorage: Alaska Skincare and Wellness. Kourkouta, L. & Papathanasiou, I.V. (2014). Communicating in Nursing Practice. Mater Sociomed, 26(1), 65-67. Sumari, M. & Jalal, F. H. (2008). Cultural issues in counselling: An international perspective. Counselling, Psychotherapy and Health, 4(1), 24-34. Read More