[ Contents | Search | Next | Previous | Up ]
From: Ken St. Louis
Date: 17 Oct 2012
Time: 09:27:16 -0500
Remote Name: 157.182.15.121
Hi Mandy, I'm glad my paper resonated with you. You asked how you will know what to do after the introductory listening sessions. I can't answer that since it depends heavily on the client. You could, as many clinicians do, administer essentially the same program to all of your clients in a given age group. If you pick a good one with good data, then you might well be successful in many cases. I, personally, am not a fan of that approach except in carrying out clinical research (where all the clients need to be treated as similarly as possible). I prefer a plan tailored to the client's individual symptoms, history, past experience, desires, and so on. I try to match an existing therapy program to the client's situation if it seems to provide a good fit. If not, I change one to provide a better match. Is this perfect clinical science? No. Is it better than just pulling something out of the hat? Definitely yes. In my humble (?) opinion, you need to look at the programs that are out there, understand what they purport to do for the client, and then pick the one that you believe has the best chance of doing that. Of course, when you start out, you won't know so well, so you should read good textbooks such as those by Charles Van Riper, David Shapiro, Walt Manning, Barry Guitar, Peter Ramig and Darrel Dodge, Bloodstein and Ratner, and others to understand the programs that are out there. Use their expertise until you develop your own and gain confidence in your abilities. Don't be afraid to make a mistake, but learn from it. Lastly, let me say that I do not agree with your statement that there are no good efficacy studies. There is lots of literature available that can guide you well, but you must not take the opinion of the first website that pops up. In that case it probably was paid for. Good luck. Ken