Therapeutic communication

Therapeutic communication is communication between a health care professional and a patient that is aimed at improving the patient's physical or psychological health and well-being. Therapeutic communication techniques have their roots in psychotherapy and include a combination of verbal and nonverbal strategies. In face-to-face situations, therapeutic communication centers on the patient or client. The therapist or health care professional employs nonverbal and verbal strategies to help individuals relax, feel accepted, and better understand their own situation. Verbal strategies include language choice, vocal tones, pauses, and vocal reflections. Nonverbal strategies include dress, body movement, touch, and eye contact. Typically, the care provider will display empathy and interest in the person’s problem. Therapeutic communication achieves its goal of improved patient health and well-being through three main routes: gathering data about the problem, assessing and amending behaviors or problems, and providing health education.

Overview

The main objective of therapeutic communication is to amplify the patient or client’s feelings of self-worth and security, or to lessen psychological suffering, by gathering data about the problem, analyzing the person’s behavior, and offering health education. In the psychotherapy context, the therapist creates a beneficial and curative relationship with the client. As opposed to other types of social interaction, for the therapist or health care professional, therapeutic communication is other-centered communication, not person-centered communication. It is concerned with the emotional and physical welfare of the other person, namely the client or patient.

Therapeutic communication is commonly used in both mental health care and physical health care. Mental health counselors use this kind of communication during the preliminary consultation to determine the client’s problem and personality. Many health care practitioners learn therapeutic communication practices to help build rapport and trust with their patients.

Therapeutic communication involves many techniques, such as broad openings, general leads, accepting, seeking clarification, and silence. Broad openings are invitations for the patient or client to talk about whatever is bothering them; general leads are neutral expressions employed to persuade the person to continue talking and disclosing pertinent information. Accepting is acknowledging that the listener understands what has been said, and seeking clarification is an invitation to further explain what the person is trying to say. Offering silence—specifically open, accepting silence—creates space for the client or patient to reflect and consider how to express further thoughts and feelings. These are just a few therapeutic communication techniques.

Some of the barriers to therapeutic communication—or nontherapeutic communication techniques—include expressing either approval or disapproval of the client or patient’s remarks (implying that the care provider is passing judgment) and rejecting the person's thoughts or feelings. In addition, sometimes the environment can be a barrier; for instance, finding a quiet place with minimal distractions that is conducive to therapeutic communication can be difficult in many health care facilities. In addition, many of the tasks that health practitioners perform are routine and impersonal, which makes it hard to invest effort in improving patient satisfaction through therapeutic communication.

Typically, nursing students learn therapeutic communication to develop better interpersonal relationship skills for dealing with their patients. The technique requires nurses to be genuine, empathetic, and respectful toward their patients. Moreover, nurses need to be aware of how this type of communication affects patients. The therapeutic nurse-client relationship includes several phases: the pre-interaction phase, orientation, working, and termination. Therapeutic communication can be very instrumental for delivering proper health care to patients.

Therapeutic communication can be successful if there is a mutual respect and understanding between the care provider and the client or patient. This type of communication requires a large amount of sensitivity and skill as an interviewer.

Bibliography

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Caldin, Sally. Therapeutic Communication for Nurses: A Life Span Approach. Sydney: Pearson Australia, 2012. Print.

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Epstein, Ronald M., F. Borrell-Carrio, and M. Caterina. “Communication and Mental Health in Primary Care.” New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. Eds. M. G. Gelder, J. J. López-Ibor, and N. C. Andreasen. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.

Hosley, Julie, and Elizabeth Molle-Matthews. A Practical Guide to Therapeutic Communication for Health Professionals.New York: Saunders, 2006. Print.

Kimmel, Nancy. “Therapeutic Communication in the Nursing Profession.” EzineArticles. SparkNET, 5 June 2007. Web. 19 July 2013.

Knapp, Herschel. Therapeutic Communication: Developing Professional Skills. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage, 2014. Print.

Maloney, S. Margaret, and Kristen Griffith. “Occupational Therapy Students’ Development of Therapeutic Communication Skills during a Service-Learning Experience.” Occupational Therapy in Mental Health 29.1 (2013): 10–26. Print.

Schuster, Pamela McHugh. Communication: The Key to the Therapeutic Relationship. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, 2000. Print.

"What Is Therapeutic Communication?" American Nurse, www.myamericannurse.com/therapeutic-communication-techniques/. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.