Establish a context

Blogger ' s note : this post is the 5th in a series that follow the outline of "Closing the Sale", originally posted to this blog on 1/24/15.

Context. Milieu. Mutually Supportive Environment. "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place". "What I Want to Do", one of my first submissions to this platform, made my eureka moment at conducting the therapy session, front and center. There is not just the treasure collected by a session that has proper context and focus; that has resonant and reverberant boundaries, working to distill actions and thoughts of the person served.

 The desire for context and perspective, on the needs of persons who receive our communication sciences and disorders (CSD) services, is crucial for intervention reaching its maximum effectiveness. Is there any there, there? Does this work actually impact real life? Does it impact THIS PERSON's real life??

Why would you need to establish a clear context in therapy sessions? It is part and parcel with the need to teach others about the profession. There is also a need to establish and maintain an environment conducive for learning. With the unrelenting pressure for cost containment in SLP services, the clinician has an obligation  to stay organized and on track to get the work done for persons served.

Teaching others about, and promoting the profession: through improved clinical outcomes we create our best ad campaign. Our customers are not only the person served, the family, the referring professionals or the professional community, -they are also the general community who may never consume your services. The clinician who helps her/his client stay focused, and working toward goals, makes the Sale of SLP as a community service that much easier.

"This is what I want". No matter what the client's age or needs, our training and experience allow CSD clinicians to move from this initial proposal; to "What I Want to Do"; - then finally, "Please do this". At its core, our profession is one involved in helping transforming people's lives. The ease of our completing our work with each person served, assures that the personal transformations actually take place. They are the reasons many of us entered the profession. We want to serve others.

The persons in charge of CSD programs may be CSD professionals, yet many times they are not. You as a CSD professional,  and your managers, want to know that you manage every clinical case efficiently. If you work for yourself, or if you are part of an interdisciplinary team, controlling your expenses of materials and time helps keep the lights on. Keeping the lights on, in turn, let's your market area know you are open to serve them. When you can serve more of the community - then you have the opportunity say once more, as the authority: now, today....