The Importance of Rapport

Developing a good rapport with your client is an essential foundation of a therapeutic relationship and will ultimately impact the effectiveness of your therapy. Clients need to trust you and know you are genuinely invested in them for a good rapport to be established. Developing this relationship with your clients is personal and needs to be individualized. Therefore, you may need to adjust your approach based on your client’s age, personality, and needs. The therapeutic relationship should not be undervalued.

Some words that come to mind when I think about developing a good relationship with a client:

Ideas that will help build rapport:

Listen with your whole body. Maintain good eye contact, sit in close proximity to client, and show genuine interest in what client has to say.

Follow your client’s lead. For an adult or adolescent, let them lead the conversation and talk about things they are interested in. For your pediatric clients, let them choose the toy, game, or activity that they want to do.

Compliment your client/offer praise. Who doesn’t love a compliment or receiving positive feedback? Offer a compliment about something your client is wearing or a feature about your client (I love your hat, shoes, nail polish, smile, etc.). Be overly positive in your first session about their behavior, work ethic, attention, etc.

Start at a level that your client can experience success and slowly build complexity of tasks. If during your very first interaction(s) with your client you start with a task they aren’t good at or is extremely frustrated by, you may completely turn them off to wanting to work with you or for you. It may also make the client feel embarrassed, vulnerable, and uncomfortable since they don’t yet really know you.

Be honest with your client. Be open with them about how there will be times in therapy where things may be too difficult for them or things may be too easy and that you will work together to find the right level to keep them challenged enough to progress their skills.

Have fun! For a young child, get down on their level (sit on the floor, bend down to talk to them) and show them how much fun you can be! Be silly and animated and PLAY, really play with them.

Value client’s opinions and preferences. Let client choose activities so that they have a feeling of some control during the session. This will also let them know that you care about their opinions and their preferences. It may be beneficial to also have a schedule for them so that they are aware of expectations. The schedule can be general to allow for the client’s input on activities. If appropriate for your client’s age and ability level, you can you’re your client give input on the “rules” or “expectations” of therapy. Coming up with those together will help them feel valued, take ownership and may lead to a greater level of compliance.

Mirror the client’s volume and tone of voice. This is especially important for an adult or older client. You don’t want to be overwhelmingly animated and loud if your client is a little shy and quiet. Otherwise, you might come off as loud and abrasive.

Find out your client’s interests and “talk the talk.” For your pre-school client it might be learning all of the names of the Puppy Dog Pal characters. For your teenage client, it may require you to learn a little bit about the sport or instrument they play. And, for your adult, you may need to learn about their profession, their favorite sports team, their hobby or favorite travel spot.

Let your client know that you’re not perfect either. Show the client your weaknesses too. What is something your client is good at, that you aren’t so good at? Let your client play the expert or the teacher.

Decide on goals together. Finally, talk about goals. First, ask your client what they want to get out of therapy and find a way to incorporate that into future therapy sessions. Acknowledge your client’s worries and concerns and discuss how you can incorporate those into goals or therapy activities. It is also important to explain what your main priorities are, why those skills are important, and how they will benefit them.

Never underestimate the value of spending time building rapport with your client. A good therapeutic relationship can be very powerful and lead to effective and efficient intervention!