THERAPEUTIC USE OF SELF During therapeutic communication, nurses use themselves as a therapeutic tool to establish a therapeutic relationship with

h the client, to help the client grow, change, and heal. It is the main tool used by the nurse in the practice of Psychiatric Nursing. Using ones humanity personality, experiences, values, feelings, intelligence, needs, coping skills, and perceptions to help the client grow and change is called THERAPEUTIC USE OF ONES SELF (Northouse & Northouse, 1998). It is the main tool used by the nurse in the practice of Psychiatric Nursing. It is the positive use of ones self in the process of therapy Hildegaard Peplau (1952), who described this therapeutic use of self in the nurse-client relationship, believed that nurses must have a clear understanding of themselves to promote their clients growth and to avoid limiting clients choices to those valued by the nurse. Therapeutic use of self requires SELF-AWARENESS!!!