The last couple of weeks I have been particularly challenged at my internship site, specifically learning to navigate between diverse types of work environments with different clients. During spring break a couple of weeks ago, there was a lot going on with the schedules of therapists and clients which allowed me to work with clients that I have not been able to have sessions with in quite some time due to our schedules no longer aligning. Although it is rewarding getting to see past clients and be able to observe how much progress has been made, I was also challenged by behaviors due to the out of routine visits from me. This was challenging not only for the clients, but also for me as well since each client has an individual intervention plan that is constantly being modified and progressed. There were moments during those sessions where I initially did not know what the right way to handle a behavior was since it takes constant practice to become a more efficient therapist. Thankfully, I was able to receive plenty of supervision hours during that week which allowed me to familiarize myself once again with past cases while also having that constant support during sessions which allowed the session to run smoothly. As behavioral therapists, we spend the most one-to-one time with a client out of the entire team. Hence, it was beneficial for the case and for the team that I was able to run sessions with a past client to ensure maintenance and generalization.
Another challenge that I have been faced with the last couple of weeks is transitioning between diverse therapeutic settings such as in-home sessions with clients, in clinic sessions, and in school sessions. More specifically, I am currently working with a client at their school, guiding their 1 on 1 aid on how to handle specific behaviors and how to work with the client in order to avoid any behaviors. Behavioral therapists from our company have been working every day with our client in their school, which has been difficult to adjust to for both the client and us. Since public schools have their own resources such as school social workers, school counselors, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, and school psychologists, there is room for a lot of tension or disagreement between specialists that are a part of the school system and the private team of therapists. It has been especially challenging to find a common ground for how to handle specific behaviors and what therapeutic method to utilize within the classroom so that the student benefits from the most. The last couple of weeks have been stressful because when two individuals are constantly talking to a child at the same time and both giving different directions, there tend to be a lot of negative behaviors that arise which makes it exceedingly difficult for a child to de-escalate. Aside from this one reason, it has been extremely challenging to find a respectful and appropriate way to tell the new 1 to 1 aid how to handle specific situations with a child without feeling bossy or not taking their methods into consideration. To move past these challenges, I have learned that it is extremely important to collaborate and continue working as a team. Both our team and the school team plan to arrange meetings and training in efforts to be on the same page when it comes to the student. Both parties want to ensure that we are prioritizing the well-being of our students over anything else. Teamwork truly is the path to success, especially in this specific situation where the school and private therapeutic company might have opposing views. This idea is supported by a research article in Switzerland that mentions the importance of teachers completing common tasks or professional goals together and jointly discussing different views that they may hold within a specific workplace (Wullschleger et al., 2023). Afterall, it is important that we as therapists learn from one another, allowing us to gain additional knowledge.
Works Cited
Wullschleger, A., Vörös, A., Rechsteiner, B., Rickenbacher, A., & Maag Merki, K. (2023). Improving teaching, teamwork, and school organization: Collaboration networks in school teams. Teaching and Teacher Education, 121, 103909-.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103909