Study, Practice, Teach

Rachel’s Reflections
“Study, Practice, and Teach”

By Rachel Betzen, M.A., CCC/SLP

The philosophy of “Study, Practice, and Teach” comes from Jim Rohn, author of the book Living an Exceptional Life. This simple concept he described as an important part of a person’s spiritual nourishment. However, Rohn is also a businessperson, and he was very successful using this model for business development and growth.

“Whatever is valuable to you, you must study, practice, and teach.”

The potentials for using Rohn’s philosophy within our clinic is tremendous. Doing so allows and inspires our therapists to further develop their clinical skills by encouraging them to develop skills well enough to teach them. Teaching a skill requires a higher level of understanding and the ability to manipulate information and adapt it to the student’s needs. Additionally, this is the perfect model for building the foundation of a mentorship program.

Relationships are very important, especially in a collaborative therapy setting like ours. Mentor relationships benefit all of us – the mentee, the mentor, and the whole clinic – as we set ourselves up to become an educational institution as well as a therapeutic one. Our therapists already know how to support each other, and know what to do when they need further help. Our staff is awesome and amazing, and their history of collaboration will make it much easier to step into the roles of mentor and mentee.

At our clinic, our success is measured by the lives we change.

This is true for all people involved in the therapy process at Dallas Reading and Language Services, including our students, their families, and our staff. The bottom line is, whoever comes to our clinic will have the opportunity to change themselves for the better – in all areas of their lives. Although this also includes our staff, the main focus for change is on the students. Change in the child can have a ripple effect. It can affect change in the family as incidences of communication breakdowns decrease. It can affect change in the classroom as the child better participates and experiences more academic success. It can change their social functioning as the child can better interact with and understand others.

It is my hope that we take Jim Rohn’s philosophy to heart in our workplace, as well as in other areas of our lives.

“Whatever is valuable to you, you must study, practice, and teach.”