Mind Matters

What audiologists and speech-language pathologists believe about themselves, others, and the world around them influences their work at least as much as their knowledge of audiology and communication sciences and disorders, according to long-time speech-language pathologist Ellen-Marie Silverman. Influenced by her training in Transactional Analysis, Dr. Silverman, a Fellow of the American Speech-Hearing-Language Association, believes the more clearly practitioners perceive their personal core beliefs, which reside below the level of casual awareness, the more effective they can be meeting clients' and caregivers' concerns. In Mind Matters, she introduces a simple, straight-forward method for identifying deeply held personal beliefs that, if undetected, could repeatedly sabotage clinical relationships. Then she describes five basic beliefs about working as a clinician that lead to highly skilled service. Examples and anecdotes drawn from her varied and extensive clinical and teaching experience showcase the value, ease, and challenges of applying these helpful beliefs to daily work in any environment. Dr. Silverman delivers this basic information in a mentor-friendly style to all intended readers, the student-in-training, the employed clinician, and the clinician planning to resume a career. The practical focus with which she addresses this rarely addressed yet critical aspect of clinical work, i.e., detecting personal core beliefs, makes Mind Matters a unique contribution to clinical preparation and development. Silverman reminds us that the relationship practitioners foster with clients and caregivers is their most important tool. Identifying personal core beliefs which form the infrastructure for professional relationships and selecting and cultivating beliefs that encourage maximal growth of clinical partners contributes greatly to experiencing a satisfying, effective, and long-lived career. As an audiologist or speech-language pathologist, this book will occupy a central place in your professional library.