– always ask yourself what you can do to have even better sessions (sounds like you are already doing that)

– always try to learn something from other clinicians you meet

– remember that creativity is great but you do not need to reinvent the wheel for everything

– remember that therapy should be challenging enough that the patient needs some assistance but not so challenging that they cannot succeed

– stay organized

– keep all the resources you can

– be prepared for sessions, etc.

– be ethical

– talk to the patients directly (even when they do not seem cognitively with it)

– have open lines of communication with caretakers

– continue your education (not just b/c it is required)

Best wishes 🙂

The most important thing is to have compassion; the rapport will come. Always ask about what the patient was like prior to the precipitating event.

Learn as much as you can about the disorder(s) your patient has, or may have, if you haven’t already learned.

Realize a patient can have several pathologies at once, such as apraxia, dysarthria, and aphasia co-occuring. I wasn’t taught that in grad school, and I was perplexed by it during my CFY. Learn as much as you can about anatomy, physiology, and neurology.

It is really helpful to learn about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as well as operant and classical conditioning. You will use these more than you may realize.