Relational reflective process as an act of compassionate pedagogy in therapeutic recreation

ABSTRACT

The therapeutic relationship is central to healing, creating meaning, and the well-being of individuals encountered in practice. Using narrative methodologies as a way to hear, further reflect on, and represent the team’s experiences within therapeutic relationships, we introduce relational reflective process and the use of relational theory and compassionate pedagogy to deepen understanding and critical reflection on multiple connections in practice (i.e., with self, participants, families, others in the interprofessional team). Through compassionate pedagogy, we broaden what it means to reflect in practice emphasizing aspects of self-reflection, relational reflection, and theoretical reflection to highlight recreation therapists’ voices in highly medicalized settings. Within the relational reflective process, recreation therapists are guided by their own individual voices and also strengthen the power of collective voice in the therapeutic recreation team. We conclude the paper with recommendations for incorporating relational reflective processes into therapeutic recreation practice.

RÉSUMÉ

La relation thérapeutique est primordiale dans le processus de guérison, dans la création de sens ainsi que pour le bien-être général des personnes que nous rencontrons dans notre pratique. Par l’utilisation de méthodologies narratives pour mieux comprendre, pousser la réflexion et se représenter les expériences de l’équipe dans la relation thérapeutique, nous proposons que le processus relationnel basé sur la réflexion, ainsi que l’utilisation de la théorie relationnelle et de la pédagogie compatissante constituent des façons d’approfondir la compréhension et la réflexion critique sur les multiples liens que nous entretenons dans notre pratique (p. ex.: avec soi-même, les participants, les familles, membres d’équipes multidisciplinaires). Par l’entremise du cadre procuré par la pédagogie compatissante, nous élargissons la définition de la réflexion dans la pratique, en mettant l’emphase sur les aspects de l’autoréflexion, la réflexion relationnelle et la réflexion théorique, afin de mettre en lumière le point de vue des thérapeutes en loisir dans une démarche hautement médicalisée. Le processus relationnel basé sur la réflexion amène les thérapeutes en loisir à suivre leur voix intérieure et à renforcer le pouvoir de la voix collective au sein de l’équipe des loisirs thérapeutiques. Notre article se termine avec des recommandations sur l’incorporation de processus relationnels basés sur la réflexion dans cette discipline.

KEYWORDS:

• Narrative
• compassionate pedagogy
• power
• relational theory
• therapeutic relationships
• relational reflection

MOTS-CLÉS:

• Narratif
• pédagogie compatissante
• force
• théorie relationnelle
• relations thérapeutiques
• réflexion relationnelle

Notes

1. While we acknowledge the ongoing debate concerning language to describe practitioners (i.e., therapeutic recreation practitioners or recreation therapists), we have chosen to use the latter phrase as it is consistent with the language used within the team of practitioners we engaged with in the relational reflective process.

2. We use “herself” within the paper to represent the recreation therapists we worked with, all of whom were women.

3. We offer a heartfelt thanks to the recreation therapy team we engaged with in this research. We appreciate their willingness to take risks, to be vulnerable, to give their energy and their patience to continue to build this process and enhance relational reflective practice for therapeutic recreation.

4. As an alternative to traditional assessment tools, the Personal Leisure Profile (PLP) (Haasen, Hornibrook, Pedlar, Tandon, & Wright, 1998) was developed as a guide for recreation therapists to engage in an initial conversation with individuals who first come to either the long-term care centre or the day hospital to understand their leisure needs and preferences. This relational approach also helps to develop a trusting, open, and balanced therapeutic relationship (Hornibrook, 1998).

5. The case review template includes the following topics: resident/patient history, PLP highlights, case highlights, theme(s) to be highlighted (which were developed from the previous research with Lansfield (2010)), questions posed to team, discussion, and follow-up. The “questions posed to team” were typically taken from the reflective questions template (Briscoe, 2012). Some examples of these reflective questions are the following: “How do I maintain a professional boundary?” And “How can my therapeutic relationship evolve?”