Acquiring and Applying Cultural Knowledge
Intentional Use of Self and Culturally Responsive Rapport Building
A consistent theme that emerged in all the conversations that I had with my previous early intervention clients was that they felt more comfortable opening up to me about their funds of knowledge and daily lives once we had built a strong relationship. To do this, each parent gave a specific example of something they knew they shared with me. Ibraheem mentioned that we both loved to read and that we connected over a book series being turned into a television series that our partners watched, Adrienne mentioned that she appreciated how we connected over music, and Crenisha talked about how our kids were about the same age and that she appreciated when I shared stories about my daughter. It was fascinating for me to hear this because I remember always wondering if I was too chatty with families and often felt like I was breaking some kind of rule by sharing these parts of myself with caregivers. I recall even sometimes feeling like I had wasted therapy time if I spent most of the hour connecting with the families about books, music, or even our kids. I knew that many of my peers didn’t have these kinds of conversations. My idea of professionalism was to be a more neutral figure and never share personal things. I always struggled with this as I felt that since I was in families’ homes week after week, sitting in their living rooms and talking to them about some of their most personal and intimate family details, I should give some of myself, too. My feelings were in direct contrast with all the messages I’d gotten about professionalism from my own lived experiences interacting with my own teachers, professors, therapists, doctors, accountants, etc. Even in the Midwest where we are trained to start conversations with small talk, we were also implicitly trained that professional boundaries meant that the expert doesn’t share anything meaningful about themselves with the students/patient/client. Often when my colleagues would comment about the rapport I had with EI clients, I felt compelled to defend it and point out all the ways that I held professional boundaries even though I was very friendly and shared personal details.
Later, I learned that sharing pieces of myself with clients is a strategy that social workers and occupational therapists use called intentional use of self. Intentional use of self occurs when a clinician (like an EI practitioner) combines their professional knowledge and skills with their identity, personality, and life experiences to engage with clients authentically rather than making an effort to de-personalize themselves (Dewane, 2006). One of the strategies that you will have to employ to apply culturally responsive early intervention practices is to figure out how to meld your authentic self with your professional role by determining how you can bring your interests, experiences, and personality into your practice. For me, this comes more naturally because I am naturally gregarious and show my love of whimsy through clothing and sock choices. I love to read and sing songs with young children, so it’s easy for me to reference a favorite children’s book or song and then follow up with a caregiver about what kinds of songs or stories they heard as a child. I also have a daughter, so I can share stories about how when I found out I was going to have a daughter, I couldn’t wait to involve her in the annual applesauce-making tradition I had with my grandmother. This anecdote led to authentic conversations with families about what kinds of things they wish they could do with their babies, which gave me insight into their family cultures and helped me to intentionally work culturally responsive activities into the developmental activities we did during home visits.
Intentional use of self is common practice in social work and O.T., but in my experience, not one that is widely used by developmental specialists or speech and physical therapists. In fact, Adrienne spoke in detail about how challenging it was for her when each of the young white women who came into her home showed up as “a blank slate of a person.” Adrienne referenced the context of EI and the power dynamics inherent in it as she described how unsettling it was when EI providers would come into her home and “smile and be pleasant and not be thrown off by anything…they think it’s a strength but it’s not…it’s a lack of authenticity but [they’re] not being fake. [They’re] not being anything and that becomes scary, especially when you know how vulnerable of a dynamic you’re in.” Adrienne went on to talk about how much work it was for her to spend the entire hour of each home visit working to make sure these EI providers felt comfortable so that maybe they would laugh at a joke or show any parts of themselves. She spoke about how in the Chicago Black community she is a part of, it’s expected to go into a “space and immediately try to connect with others so that you can create a sense of warmth and shared humanity.”
Intentional use of self will help you find these points of connection with your families. It’s a skill that takes practice to hone so don’t be discouraged if you aren’t sure when to drop in details about yourself or it feels stilted at first. It also takes time to learn where the professional boundaries are when deploying intentional use of self. While it is appropriate to share parts of yourself, you’ll need to remind yourself that you and the family members are friends, so the conversations should always be more about them than you. You should never put your EI clients in the position of comforting you, helping you solve a personal problem, or sharing a judgment about another family. After all, if the parents know that you’ve judged another family, they know that you’ll judge them, too.
