Affiliations: School of Counseling, Human Performance and Rehabilitation, College of Education and Health Professions, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 South University Avenue, Little Rock, AR 72204, USA. Tel.: +1 501 683 7084; Fax: +1 501 569 8129; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: BACKGROUND:The quality of the counselor-client relationship, as defined by the therapeutic or working alliance (WA), has long been known to impact therapeutic outcomes (Horvath, Del Re, Flückiger, & Symonds, 2011; Lambert & Barley, 2001). Within the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) process, a strong working alliance has likewise been shown to result in better vocational and/or independence outcomes (Lustig, Strauser, Rice, & Rucker, 2002) due to more active client collaboration in vocational planning and follow-through with planned services, a strong predictor of outcome in therapy (Gomes-Schwartz, 1978). OBJECTIVE:As bonding between therapist/counselor and patient/client is one essential element in the construct of the WA (Bordin, 1979), the sub-elements of bonding are considered in this review as they apply to the critical role of communication (Egan, 2013) between the generalist VR counselor (Cook & Bolton, 1997) and client who is hard of hearing or late-deafened. CONCLUSION:Communication challenges peculiar to these populations are explored, and how they impact the development of bonding and a functional relationship in the counseling setting. Finally, ways to reconsider and accommodate these challenges are reviewed.
Keywords: Working alliance, bonding, communication, hard of hearing, late-deafened
