Silly/Serious-Listening/Loving-Patient/Pushy- the sides of being an S.L.P.

I just realized the other day that being an SLP not only means wearing many different hats, but also means fulfilling different roles, depending on what your patient/student needs that day. Have any other SLPs ever realized this?

Some days, my patients need to be silly and have fun. They need to laugh to lighten up their world, take a few minutes away, and be humorous throughout various tasks. Other days, those same patients need to be serious, and need to have harder discussions. They need to be heard, and they need to feel safe to have open discussions about topics. When you’re working around sensitive areas such as cognition and communication, trust and rapport is of the essence. I always come back to this point and honor this part of my role as an SLP.

Those same patients sometimes need me to push them throughout sessions, but other days need a little more time to process through tasks, and support to utilize strategies appropriately. We all have good and bad days, and its important to honor that and provide support when needed. I used to feel the inherent need to fill all open air space with as many words as possible; I have since learned the value of silence, and time to work through tasks. I also learned the value of person first nomenclature- we are all people first, and have needs and desires as humans.