How to Answer: How do you validate the client's pain and work to establish trust?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for an Occupational Therapist job interview.
23. How do you validate the client's pain and work to establish trust?
How to Answer
Working to establish the trust of your patients can take some time. Tell the interviewer that there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to helping your patients validate their pain and learn to control it. Give a specific example that you have of a patient that was experiencing a high amount of pain and some things you did to help alleviate that pain.
Written by Heather Douglass
Entry Level
"Knowing that I'll be working with patients that are in pain due to their conditions, I would start by listening to their concerns about their pain and use reflective listening techniques to help build a rapport and trust with them. Once a patient knows that I understand their pain, they will be better able to trust the recommendations for therapy that I have. From there, the course will depend on where the patient is experiencing pain. It is important to make modifications to daily living items that help make the pain as little as possible for the patient."
Written by Ryan Brunner
Answer Example
"To help my patients manage their chronic pain, I work on gentle exercises to increase their strength and stamina. I also encourage activities such as as self-hypnosis, meditation, and yoga. Understanding that each persons pain is unique, I always look at the individual as a whole to try and alleviate their pain."
Written by Heather Douglass
Experienced
"Working with patients dealing with chronic pain is something that I have experience with. I begin by assessing the patient's level of pain and look at what aspects of their day to day life the pain effects. One particular patient I worked with had an arm amputated and was experiencing a great deal of pain. On top of the regular modifications in her home that I would work through with an amputee, I worked with her on creating more modifications to alleviate the initial pain she was experiencing."
Written by Ryan Brunner