The Interview
On Monday 11 March 2019 I conducted an interview with Emma Stewart. Emma is Sexologist and runs a Sex and Relationship therapy practice in the Perth Hills. The purpose of the Interview was to explorative and my aim was to gather comprehensive information in order to enable me to develop my skill-set so further. My focus is Psychology, but I also have an interest in Sex and Relationship therapy. The Interview was conducted over two 25 minute sessions. The first session covered areas concerning general employment; preparation required to work in the field and career path obstacles. The Second interview covered skills required, ongoing personal and professional development and identifying what aspects of my background would help my interest in working in the area of Sex and Relationship Therapy.
Communication
The foremost important skill that was referred to 15 times during the interview was the requirement to have well developed communication skills. This was entirely expected as being a critical skill (as it is for most occupations) but it is crucial for Relationship Therapy. It was emphasized that Sexologists deal with embarrassing and sensitive subjects and the clients’ are often in a profoundly inhibited state. This means that the therapist needs to nurture a therapeutic alliance with the client and this is done by adeptly utilizing open and non-judgmental language, clear language and listening with empathy. One interesting suggestion that has never occurred to me before was the recommendation that in order to improve my communication skills I should talk less and listen more. The proposition here was that I should pause, listen and not prepare a response. That instead of preparing to respond I should 100% focus on the other person. To fully give them my attention and to let them know (through my actions and attentiveness) that what they are saying is the most important thing possible at that point in time.
Since the interview I have looked into Person-Centered Therapy. A great deal of the essential methodology revolves around Active Listening and it would seem that this is where my focus will now be. The information gleaned from the interview resonates with this and have now decided to redirect my focus towards Humanistic Therapy in order to develop a more supporting and empathic communication style.
Patience
Can patience be considered a skill or is it a personality trait? I queried Emma on this point when she stated that it was probably the second most important skill to have. To be quite honest, I am not exactly a patient person so this worried me. I get agitated easily when people are late for appointments and I am somewhat intolerant of people who choose to express themselves in a roundabout kind of way.
The kind of patience that Emma emphasized was in relation to the fact that some therapeutic alliances can last for several months and in some cases several years. That is, that some issues do not yield positive results or outcomes for a great deal of time. Patience is essential in such cases in order to keep motivated and focused.
Since the interview I have explored a number of books that discuss the concept of patience and suggest how to become better at being patient. It is worth noting that the word patience is derived from the Latin word Pati which means to suffer, to endure, to bear. All of the books and sources that I have found agree with one pivotal notion and that is that the development of patience helps to develop understanding, compassion and empathy.
