Being Person-Centered: Meaning is what matters

Being Person-Centered: Meaning is what matters

There a few frames of reference we can choose to see our work through.

There are dozens of theories we can use to guide our thinking.

There are hundreds of treatment options at our disposal, and most are helpful.

All combined, there are thousands of combinations of ways to help our clients.

But, there’s only one client.

That person needs to live a meaningful life - and that should be our primary focus. Helping them move more, feel better or think more effectively just serves that primary goal of deriving meaning in life.

So don’t worry too much about what path to take, just aim for the right destination.

Being Person-Centered: Defining Normal

The definition of “normal” has always confounded medicine. It takes on a variety of roles and meanings and is interpreted by each of us differently.  “Normal” might mean the ideal, the optimal, the most common, the average, the expected, the evenly distributed.

When speaking with a client, we may not even be sure which meaning we’re choosing or implying when we say normal.  They may even interpret what we say with a different meaning. This conundrum may seem insignificant but it highlights the limitations of language when we communicate with clients. Are there other words that can be misconstrued in similar ways? Most definitely. 

Much of the regular language we use with clients is misinterpreted because words are defined a bit differently by all of us. A solution is to take care with the “normal” language we use, and focus on checking understanding and interpretation (“what does that mean to you” or "“can you explain that back to me in your own words”) rather than simply asking “does that make sense?”

When the evidence says "no": an exploration of NDT

When the evidence says "no": an exploration of NDT

Being an evidence based OT isn't easy. Even when the evidence is staring you in the face it can be hard to know what direction to take. Sometimes it’s straight-forward, but most of the time it’s a real mess to sort out.  In some cases, what you’ve been using successfully for years doesn’t seem to show in the literature. What the hell is going on?

Well, making choices on evidence based practice related to OT interventions requires more than simply reading the evidence. Our practices are intimately connected to both who you are as an clinician (you background, skills, interests, etc..) and who the patient is (wants, needs, etc..). Proving if something works or doesn’t is only part of the picture.  

To highlight this conundrum, we’ve chosen to take a look at Neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) this week.