Category: Counseling

Much of what we do with our customer is education.  Most of our patients have little or no knowledge of hearing, hearing loss or hearing aids – it is a black box.  Hearing aids are particularly mysterious. Our patients don’t know what they can and cannot do, may never have experienced them, and may not…

I typically dislike euphemisms.  For an excellent primer on how euphemisms can subtly change the meaning and impact of language, look at the late, great George Carlin’s brilliant comedic essay on how “shell shock” eventually became “PTSD”.  His point is that euphemistic language can sometimes soften and “tame” difficult concepts.  Perhaps we would do well…

In a recent talk to a group of hearing care providers, I took an informal poll, asking what were some of the most discouraging things their patients had reported being told by their physician regarding their hearing.  I knew what the results would be, having heard very disappointing things from scores of patients myself, over…

infantilize /inˈfantilīz/ – verb – to treat (someone) as a child or in a way that denies their maturity in age or experience. Infantalize is not a pleasant word.  It conjures condescension and patronization, neither of which does any clinical caregiver wish to be guilty. There can be a fine line between condescension and explaining…