First client

The client: My very first client was 1. She had a last name that I still have to stop and think before I attempt to pronounce. I loved her! She was the dearest lady. Recently, I bumped into her daughter, who is also wonderful, who told me that 1 is no longer attending therapy at my school, but she is going to keep on working at the communication book we had set up for her. But anyhow, 1 had been priorly diagnosed with severe Wernicke's aphasia. She came to us about 10-years post CVA and we thought had limb apraxia as well. Her speech was fluent, traces of a foreign tongue (thought to be European, her daughter did confirm that she had spoken a foreign langauge before, but lost it soon after in the US) was there, but for the most part, it was neologism. Automated speech occured in rare occasions. We worked on building a communication book and gestures. I don't think gestures really worked out for the best because of the apraxia. I think the part in therapy that helped was when she did get the task right, it boosted her self-confidence, or at least took off the self-consciousness and frustration of not being understood, and not understanding others. Maybe that was supposed to be the main goal in therapy: to increase interactions with others in outside the home settings. At the end of the semester, she wasn't pleased to find out MJ and I wouldn't be her clinicians anymore, I took that as a sign that I didn't totally upset her (and change is hard for anyone too) and she perhaps did like me despite all the rough spots. Big things I learned that semester:
-It's an ongoing process, it doesn't stop, just changes. Be aware of these changes, facilitate them.
-Pay more attention than usual to nonverbal cues, anticipate needs and wants. MEMORIZE a client's likes, dislikes, hobbies, background info, etc. How can they trust you if you don't care enough about them, jsut as you would for a person you're interested to get to know more.
-Wanting success is not enough, put your brain in the equation.
-Step back, chill. Don't be so wrapped up in the downside and pain that you can't see the promising future.
-If you don't have confidence/trust in yourself, don't expect to see anything good happen. Even if it does, you'll miss it.
-Pray for your clients.
-Encouragement and minute breaks go a long way.
-More is less...don't talk so much, listen to the client.
-You don't cure the client, you provide triggers that will help them remember how to communicate. They cure themselves with the help of the Almighty above.
-Healing first begins when the client is at peace with what has happened, is able to acknowledges the challenges and difficulties, and is ready to struggle to beat them.

I also had a group session, lead it with two other student clinicians. Group therapy was divided into three: verbal, moderately verbal and nonverbal. I was in the verbal group, most were clients that had gone through individual therapy and were about to step out of therapy, or had already stepped out of therapy and was there for just the 'last bit;' it was a safe place to practice communicating. I was fortunate to be in this group...it was the other end of the specturm I suppose...I had to do all the talking for individual and here in group, the group did all the talking (which is good). I learned a lot about humility in that group. I learned the changes, that life never really goes back to be the same, but it evolves to a different level. And a big part of getting well is learning to live at that level. Out of all those sessions, one thing stuck out the most to me: one session the topic of what life was before their accident came up. One thing in common that seemed to resonate through the group is that the group of friends and people they socialized with changed. Friends they hung out with Friday night moved away, new friends were made. Eveyone except one, he said, his friends stuck to him even more the closer. And it was terrific to hear this, he credited it to his religion, He was a Christian, and the friends he talked about were friends from his church. His zeal for Christ was not unusual, he would bring in His love for Christ and materials to read about Christianity every chance he got during therapy, sharing with the others. I don't know how much the others appreciated this, because we did have only an hour per week, and time was limited for each one to talk..but I know I learned more from that gentleman that semester than I had in years as being a Christian in college.