Client Communication, Coaching Cues, and Professional Practice
Domain 7: Client Communication, Coaching Cues, and Professional Practice
This domain tests whether you can teach, document, and refer professionally.
Communication rules
- Obtain informed consent and explain the purpose of each screen and exercise.
- Use plain language and check understanding with teach-back.
- Match cues to the client: external cues such as 'push the floor away' often work better than internal anatomy cues.
- Use one cue at a time, then observe. Pair verbal cues with demonstration and tactile feedback only with consent.
- Document baseline measures, cues used, pain response, and progress.
- Stay within scope and refer when symptoms are outside your training.
- Use motivational interviewing: ask open questions and reflect the client's own reasons for change.
Worked example
During a bird dog, a client rotates the pelvis. Instead of saying 'activate your multifidus,' say 'keep both hip bones level as if balancing a glass of water.' Demonstrate, then ask the client to repeat the cue. If the pelvis still drops, regress to a smaller range and document the cue that worked.
Traps
- Overloading the client with jargon or five cues at once.
- Promising pain relief or rehabilitation outcomes.
- Skipping consent and documentation.
- Practicing outside scope.