[humanser] Blind counselors and body language

[Ginny Duff]

I must say this has always been something I worry about -  I work with psychotic patients.   My staff will report on the patient's appearance which often relects how weell they are doing - dischevelled - food down their front - wild hair - unshaven - a dramatic change in their appearance.   I work with on a long term basis with this population and I work in the context of a team and so I do not think in the end I niss much.

A lot of my psychotic patients  are being treated against their will and so they would be all too motivated to not divulge information to me.  This is quite a different from doing counselling or therapy with a client who is coming to see you becasue they want to.   They are at least trying to communicate to you the best they can.   I don't think my vision loss is a barrier in dealing with psychotherapy patients or patients who are voluntarily coming for treatment.

Someone on this list suggested asking the patient to descirbe themselves.   I have tried this a few times with interesting results.  As my vision has worsened, I am trying to develop more creative ways of dealing with missing the visual iompact.

Ginny

Dr. V. Duff
Clinical Director
West End Assertive Community Treatment Team
St. Joseph's Health Centre, Toronto
Lecturer, University of Toronto

On Sep 2, 2017, at 11:25, Quinto Sanchez via HumanSer <humanser at nfbnet.org<mailto:humanser at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

Like others have indicated I have found no problem discerning what the
client is doing and whenever wondering I simply ask. However, I had this
conversation with a sighted supervisor and I said well counseling is being
taught and has been studied from a sighted persons perspective but I think
the sighted person could miss out on auditory subtleties' things such as
subtle sighs, pauses, and intonation. If you ask a client about something
they are uncomfortable about they might have a smile on their face to try to
disguise the hurt they are feeling but , in their response to the question
you noticed that their pitch and velocity changed. The sighted person
wouldn't notice that because they see the big smile on the clients face.  .

-----Original Message-----
From: HumanSer [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Schulz,
Maureen, SSA via HumanSer
Sent: Friday, September 1, 2017 2:00 PM
To: 'Human Services Division Mailing List'
Cc: Schulz, Maureen, SSA
Subject: Re: [humanser] Blind counselors and body language

Hi, I'm Maureen from Berkeley, social worker. The body language discussion
is hard to resolve, because of course to us we discern what we need to and
more without it, but any sighted person advancing this argument would say:
well, how can you know you're not missing anything important that I/we could
pick up much quicker... Hearing that is the frustration.

Maureen Schulz
Alameda County Senior Information
510 577-3530
Aging is All About Living

-----Original Message-----
From: HumanSer [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ally Matt
via HumanSer
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2017 6:09 PM
To: Human Services Division Mailing List
Cc: Ally Matt
Subject: Re: [humanser] Blind counselors and body language

I have been able to discern the important information throughh voice cues
and other audible indicators. I have actually had some clients find my
visual impairment a benefit. I had asked a client expressed gratitude that I
would not be able to judge her body because I couldn't see. I have had a
couple of clients expressed concern about being able to work with me because
I am blind, but that has often been resolved once we meet for the first
time. I actually think that sometimes I have an advantage in that I can't
see things that might distract. I have to focus on what the client is saying
and at the tone of their voice.

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 31, 2017, at 4:02 PM, Ayoub Zurikat via HumanSer
<humanser at nfbnet.org<mailto:humanser at nfbnet.org>> wrote:

Hello family, I hope you are all well.
I am currently doing my masters degree in clinical mental health
counseling. Thing is, I have had this concern ever since I started the
program, and I need advice or feedback.
So a crucial part of therapy is the therapist's ability to read and
interpret client's nonverbal body language. However, being blind I cannot do
that. Here are my questions.
1- has this been an issue for employment? In other words are counseling
centers/employers hesitant to work with blind counselors because of this
issue?
2- for those of you who are practicing therapists, how do you deal with
such an issue? Are their skills that can be learned?
3- am I going to have to limit myself to do therapy with blind/disabled
clients because of this?
4- do any of you know of internship sites in the Chicago area that are
friendly towards blind interns?

I've been very concerned, and quite stressed because of this. Your
feedback and help are so greatly appreciated.
Thank you
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