Between therapist and patient: the language of caring

It is essential for respiratory therapists within health care settings to understand who and what they care about. Yet these issues are infrequently discussed in school of in in-service programs. The purposes of this article are (1) to identify different types of relationships that may exist in the therapists' personal and professional lives; (2) to analyze the caring feelings that may be stimulated as they interact with different relationships; (3) to describe behavior that emerges as a result of caring feelings; and (4) to explore steps that respiratory therapists may take in reaching congruence between their feelings and their behavior patterns.