THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES

TECHNIQUE
ASSESSMENT:
Techniques fostering description
Offering Self: making self available and
showing interest and concern
Active listening: paying close attention to
verbal and non-verbal communications,
patterns of thinking, feelings, and behaviors
Silence: planned absence of verbal remarks to
allow patients to think and say more
Empathy: recognizing and acknowledging
patient’s feelings
Questioning: using open-ended questions to
achieve relevance and depth in discussion
General Leads: using neutral expression to
encourage patients to continue talking
Restating: repeating the exact words of
patients to remind them of what they said; to
let them know they are heard
Verbalizing the implied: rephrasing patient’s
words to highlight an underlying message
Clarification: asking patients to restate,
elaborate, or give examples of ideas or feelings
COMMUNICATION
“I’ll sit with you”.
“I’ll stay with you”.
Face the patient; maintain eye contact; be open,
alert and patient; respond appropriately
Maintain eye contact; convey interest and
concern in facial expressions
“I can hear how painful it is for you to talk
about this”.
“Who?’ “What?” Where?’ ‘When?’ What did
you say?’ “What happened?’ “Tell me about
it?’
“Go on, I’m listening”. “I hear what you are
saying”.
“You say you are going home soon,” “Your
mother wasn’t happy to see you”.
Patient: “There is nothing to do at home”.
Nurse: “It sounds as if you might be bored at
home”.
“What do you mean by “feeling sick inside”?
Give me an example of feeling “lost”.

TECHNIQUE
NURSING DIAGNOSIS:
Techniques fostering analysis and
conclusions
Making Observations: commenting on what
is seen or heard to encourage discussion
Presenting reality: offering a view of what is
real and what is not without arguing with the
patient
Encouraging description of perceptions:
asking patients’ views of their situations
Voicing Doubt: expressing uncertainty about
the reality
Of patient’s perceptions and conclusions
Placing an event in time or sequence: asking
for relationships among events
Encouraging comparisons: asking for
similarities and differences among feelings,
behaviors and events
Identifying themes: asking patient to identify
recurrent patterns in thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors
COMMUNICATION
“You seem restless”. “I noticed you have
trouble making a decision about…….”
“I know the voices are real to you, but I don’t
hear them”. “I don’t see it the same way”.
“What do you think is happening to you right
now?’ ”What do you think is your problem?”
“I that the way to interpret it?” What other
conclusions could there be?”
“When did you do this?” “Then what
happened?” What lead up to …?” “What is the
connection between….?”
“How does this compared to the last time?”
“What is different about your feelings today?”
“So what do you each time you argue with
your wife?” “What feeling do you get when
you see your father?”
Summarizing: reviewing main points and
conclusions
TECHNIQUE
NURSING DIAGNOSIS:
Techniques fostering interpretation of
meaning and importance
Focusing: pursuing topic until its meaning and
importance is clear
Interpreting: providing a view of the meaning
or importance of something
Encouraging evaluation: asking for patients’
view of the meaning or importance of
something
TECHNIQUE
PLANNING:
Techniques fostering problem solving and
decisions
Suggesting collaboration: offering to help
patient solve the problem
Encouraging goal setting: asking patients to
decide on the type of change needed
Encouraging consideration of opinions:
asking patient to consider the pros and cons of
possible options
Encouraging the formulation of plan:
Probing for a step-by-step actions that will be
needed
TECHNIQUE
IMPLEMENTATION:
Techniques fostering the completion of
plans
Testing out new behavior:
1. rehearsing: requesting a verbal description
of what will be said or done
2. role playing: practicing behaviors; the nurse
plays the particular role
Supportive confrontation: acknowledging the
difficulty in changing, but pushing for action
Limit setting: discouraging non-productive
feelings and behaviors, and encouraging
productive ones
Feedback: pointing out specific behaviors and
giving impressions of reactions
“Let’s see, so far you have said…..”
COMMUNICATION
“Explain more about….” “What bothers you
about…?” “What happens when you feel this
way?”
“It sounds as this is very important to you”.
“You seem to get in trouble when you….”
“So what does all these means to you?” “How
serious is this for you?” “How important is it to
change this behavior?”
COMMUNICATION
“I can help you understand this better.” “Let’s
see if we can find an answer.”
“”What do you think needs a change?” “What
do you want to do differently?”
“What would be the advantage of trying….”
“What would work best?”
“”What exactly will it take to carry out your
plan?” “What else do you need to do?”
COMMUNICATION
“Tell me exactly what you will say to your
wife on Friday?”
“I’ll play your wife. What do you want to say
to me?”
“I know this isn’t to do, but I think you can do
it.”
“It’s hard but give it a try”.
“You’re slipping into your aggressive tone
again. Try it again…” This is a negative
comment about yourself. Tell me positive
about yourself.”
“I thought you conveyed anger when you
said…” “When you said…. I felt….”
 TECHNIQUE
EVALUATION:
Encouraging evaluation: asking patient to
evaluate their actions and the outcomes
Reinforcement: giving feedback on positive
behaviors
Repeating steps of the nursing process if
needed: using the steps of the nursing process
to get a description of what happened, the
degree of success, and ideas for change
COMMUNICATION
“How ell did it work when you tried..”
“What was your husband’s reaction?”
“This new approach worked for you. Keep it
up.”
“What would help you better next time?” “If
things didn’t go well, what do you want to do
differently this time?”