One student was reluctant to
interact with her client during
the entire 4-week period. In the
final week, she indicated her client
was “sleeping in the TV room
and might get mad at me if I wake
her. I know I would.” Because of
this student’s level of discomfort
and limited interaction with the
client, the therapeutic relationship
was affected, thereby limiting
the development of empathy.
However, the student did express
some feelings of empathy for the
clients when she wrote in her
journal, “It made me feel sad that
most of these clients do not have
family that interacts with them
regularly.” She further stated,“The whole thing just made me
feel great empathy for these clients.”
With faculty guidance, this
student was able to identify empathetic
responses to use when
communicating with her client
about family issues.