The Therapeutic Relationship: See me as a Person

It occurred to Mr. Trout that decades of clinical work with mothers and babies--using a model of assessment and intervention utterly dependent on the establishment of a therapeutic connection--might offer some insight into the ways doctors and nurses connect with (or fail to connect with) their own patients. What followed this insight was a collaboration with Mary Koloroutis, MSN, vice-president of Creative Health Care Management in Minneapolis and author of the 2003 text, Relationship-Based Care, to write See Me As A Person:  Creating Therapeutic Relationships with Patients and Their Families.

Within the world of health care, the act of therapeutic connection is not owned by any one profession. The responsibility to offer authentic and compassionate care to another human being is something we all share. In our chaotic and time-constrained medical and nursing environments in which technical and complex demands prevail, clinicians struggle as they strive every day to connect with the patients and families in their care.

See Me As A Person: Creating Therapeutic Relationships With Patients And Their Families, written with Mary Koloroutis, suggests a model for healthcare providers to connect with their patients--and, in the process, improve their efficacy, the patient's sense of being seen, and patient satisfaction with the quality of care.

It is hope that this new volume--clearly crossing disciplinary lines to name and encourage behavior that some nurses and physicians engage in intuitively--will make a significant contribution to the dramatically-changing world of healthcare delivery.    

The purpose of the therapeutic relationship is to facilitate the capacity of patients and their loved ones to cope with illness and to take ownership for their healing and health. The practices described in the book--and brought to life in the CD--are grounded in medical, nursing, and psychological research, and are also plainly built on the healing power of authentic connection.

For more information on the book and/or CD and to learn more about our work, click here or call 800.728.7766.

Please visit www.TheTherapeuticRelationship.com