Conditions and connections of the therapeutic relationship with Dr Maxi Miciak

The Words Matter Podcast with Oliver Thomson

In this episode I spoke with Dr Maxi Miciak. Maxi is a physiotherapist based in Canada, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta.

Maxi received a doctorate in Rehabilitation Science in 2015 from the University of Alberta and was the inaugural Cy Frank postdoctoral fellow in impact assessment at Alberta Innovates, Canada.

Her PhD research resulted in the development of a conceptual framework of the physiotherapy therapeutic relationship, which offers a rich and insightful qualitative theory and it has received significant interest in scientific and clinical communities. Her excellent papers on the conditions and connections of the therapeutic relationship can be found here and here.

In this episode we:

• Dive into the nature of the therapeutic relationship as both a theoretical concept and also a central component to any interaction between patient and clinician.
• We talk about what constitutes a ‘good’ and perhaps not so good relationship with patients.
• We discuss the foundational conditions necessary for a therapeutic relationship to develop and how clinicians can be present with patients to help set the ground work for such a connection to be established.
• We also talk about how the fall out from COVID (such as virtual or tele healthcare, wearing PPE) might impact the sorts of relationships we want to develop with patients and Maxi offers useful workarounds to mitigate these negative affects
• I absolutely loved talking to Maxi, we really hit it off in podcasting terms, given this was the first time we’d spoken. She is also an experienced podcaster, and co-hosts the podcast Ignite Physio, which I thoroughly recommend subscribing and listening to, as Maxi has so much valuable and insightful knowledge and wisdom to share on the area of therapeutic relationships.

I bring you Dr Maxi Miciak.

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