Surfing the Torus: A Trauma-Informed Dialogic Approach to Behaviour Change for Allied Health Professionals
Amar Dhall1, Manav Satija11Primal Intelligence, Coff Harbour, NSW, Australia
Abstract
As allied health professionals, supporting our clients’ behavioural change is often at the root of successful therapeutic encounters. We must assess client needs and advise what behavioural changes are most in their interest. While many clients wish to apply such advice expeditiously, they often fail to break habits. The result is that clients progress slowly along their healing journey.
Slow client progress also has impacts on allied health providers. Providers may experience stagnation in the growth of their practice as referrals usually come from clients who have made significant progress along their healing journey. Generally, clients who progress slowly are not as satisfying to work with. Moreover, they can be a source of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue for their therapists who have prolonged exposure to clients experiencing extended periods of ill health and limited progress.
Research shows that healthcare professionals who implement a dialogic framework based upon coaching principles can better support their clients to achieve their health-related goals.
Traditional, client-led coaching approaches may be of limited usefulness in addressing the unique behavioural challenges posed by allied health clients. Contemporary insights into the nature of trauma suggest that many maladaptive behaviours ultimately originate in a survival impulse generated as a response to a traumatic circumstance or event. Such behaviours may only be effectively addressed via a trauma-informed approach to behavioural change, and hence, practitioners are better able to support expanding the horizons of patient care.
The authors propose a novel six-step therapeutic coaching model that is trauma-informed and appropriate for allied health professionals that has been designed by four psychotherapists/ master coaches.
Biography
Biographies to come.