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Therapy

Communication and Collaborative Professional Practices

Effective Communication 

From my interview with a Resource Consultant, she mentioned one of the top required skills of a successful RC is Communication skills. She said that Communication plays an important part for a Resource Consultant because they need to communicate with families, educators, professionals, as well as colleagues.

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Before a Resource Consultant can provide services to a consultee, the first step is to build a relationship with all parties within the family service team. Effective communication is key to building relationships. According to principles of effective communication, when communicating with others, we need to be able to understand other’s feelings, concerns, and needs; asking appropriate questions to find out more of their needs and being genuine and honest to our thoughts. Effective communication supports understanding needs, coordinate and collaborate with all parties, and develop strategies to work towards children’s goals.

There are different family service team models (Gallant, 2024):

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  • Multidisciplinary Teams (least collaborative); These teams work in parallel with little or no interaction.

  • Interdisciplinary teams (more collaborative); These teams have discussion and cooperation among professionals while the goal setting and implementation are set separately.

  • Transdisciplinary teams (most collaborative); These teams coordinate and collaborate throughout the whole early intervention process. They integrate understanding needs, setting goals, and implementation together.

 

To have an effective and efficient collaborative team model and create a plan that suits the child and their family best, we need to be open to other’s input, demonstrate respect to others, communicate in professional language, and be clear of each other’s roles and responsibilities. (Gallant, 2024)

Collaborative Team Models

Family Service Teams

Family Service Teams refers to the group of professionals that work with the child and their family. Its purpose is to ensure all team members are on the same page, so they can work together to meet the child and their family’s needs. (Gallant, 2024) From the course material and my placement, I understand that this could include, but not limited to the following (Gallant, 2024): 

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  • Child and their family

  • Early Childhood Educators

  • Resource Consultants (RC)

  • Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP)

  • Occupational Therapists (OT)

  • Physical Therapist (PT)

  • Behavioral Therapist

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Depending on the child’s needs, family service teams could look different. As a future Resource Consultant, it is so important for me to understand each type of professional and their expertise so that I can identify the best possible resources to provide to the child and their family.  ​​

Conflict Resolution

Working in a team could be challenging because each of us may hold different views, opinions, beliefs, and working styles. (Gallant, 2024) From an interview with a Resource Consultant in 2023, she recommended some strategies to enhance effective communication skills:

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  1. Avoid assumptions about families. For example, do not assume they are too busy for their child based on educators’ comments, ask open ended questions to obtain more information firsthand.

  2. Respect others, be flexible and open minded.

  3. Active listening and understand other’s perspective.

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When it comes to resolving conflicts, there are ways to help us to improve our conflict resolution skills. Always keep in mind that each stakeholder shares the same goal, which is to support the child achieve their full potential. Do not take conflict personally, facilitate open talks, communicate professionally, and respectfully to seek solution to conflicts.

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Image retrieved from https://www.thebalancemoney.com/conflict-resolutions-skills-2063739

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