CHCCOM006 Establish and manage client relationships

Core unit of HLT42021 Certificate IV in Massage Therapy. Release 2.

This unit is about the professional side of the therapist-client relationship: setting it up well, keeping appropriate boundaries, and answering client questions clearly. It is written for health and community workers who work independently with clients.

Elements

1. Establish professional relationship with the client
2. Manage client interactions
3. Provide effective responses to client enquiries

What you must do (performance evidence)

• Establish and manage relationships and boundaries with 3 clients while providing a service.
• Work out responses to 3 different situations involving difficult or challenging behaviour.

What you must know (knowledge evidence)

• Legal and ethical limits: privacy, confidentiality, human rights, and work-role boundaries (including sexual, physical and emotional boundaries and client transference).
• Communication skills: active listening, questioning, empathy, verbal and non-verbal cues.
• Motivational interviewing techniques such as paraphrasing, reflecting feelings, open/closed questions, summarising and reframing.
• Barriers to communication (language, culture, religion, disability, age, emotional state) and how to respond.
• Handling difficult conversations: defusing anger, staying composed, seeking help.
• What information clients may need: appointments, costs, referrals, self-care.

How it is assessed

Workplace or realistic simulated environment.

Full text: sources/course-docs/CHCCOM006.md. This is a plain-English summary; the official unit on training.gov.au is the authority.