Palliative Care – Therapeutic Communication

Transcript

At the center of the biotech care model sits one of the hardest topics in the medical world at the moment, which is communication. Biotech care clinicians are specially trained in communication skills and speak a language that everyone understands, which is the language of therapeutic communication. Therapeutic communication occurs when the clinician listens deeply and carefully to the person in front of them and asks the type of questions that allow the human being to tell their true story so that the clinician can understand better who their patient is as a person and how their values and priorities drive the important decisions they make in regards to their health or the treatment of a serious illness.

It takes practice and plenty of self-awareness to develop this skill in order for the clinician to be able to stay present with what’s true for their patient. They have to have achieved a certain level of personal equilibrium and leave their own biases aside so that they’re able to hear what’s true for the person in front of them. Through this quality of communication, people are able to build a partnership and that in itself has a very strong therapeutic value. Therapeutic communication, partnership, and collaboration are the main ingredients to a successful path towards healing.