Moral Features of the Therapeutic Relationship with Adults: Dignity, Trust, Autonomy, Vulnerability, and Resilience

Jennifer Horner

doi:10.1055/s-0040-1709203

Seminars in Speech and Language, Table of Contents

Semin Speech Lang 2020; 41(03): 212-220
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1709203

Invited Review Article

Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Moral Features of the Therapeutic Relationship with Adults: Dignity, Trust, Autonomy, Vulnerability, and Resilience

Jennifer Horner

¹College of Health Sciences and Professions, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

Using dignity as a foundational value of morality, this article defines trust, autonomy, vulnerability, and resilience in relational terms. A fictional narrative illustrates these attributes as well as solidarity and care, two core tenets of relational ethics. Medicine and rehabilitation are described as moral enterprises with respect for persons at the core of our professional obligations to patients—namely, duties of care, trustworthiness, and loyalty. Clinically, promoting autonomy, decreasing vulnerability, and fostering resilience are encouraged, with particular emphasis on avoiding words or actions (or inactions) that could cause patients to feel discouraged or depersonalized. In conclusion, the purpose of our work with persons with aphasia and other communication disorders is to help them live their lives as fully as possible, despite their life-changing losses. Viewing our therapeutic relationships with them in relational moral terms can enhance our work.

Keywords

ethics - morality - dignity - therapeutic relationship - relational ethics

Full Text

References

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