Psych Therapeutic Communication Flashcards
What are the goals of therapeutic communication?
- Establish therapeutic relationship
- Identify patient’s most important concerns; assess patients’ perceptions
- Facilitate expression of emotion
- Teach self care skills
- Recognize needs and implement interventions
When is the space for therapeutic communication most comfortable?
3-6 feet apart
What are the 5 types of touch?
- Functional/professional
- Social/polite
- Friendship/warmth
- Love/intimacy
- Sexual/arousal
Functional/Professional Touch
used in examinations or procedures such as when a nurse touches a client to perform an assessment like skin turgor
Social/Polite Touch
used in greetings such as handshakes and the “air kisses” some women use to greet acquaintances, or when a gentle hand guides someone in the right direction
Friendship/Warmth Touch
involves a hug in greeting, an arm thrown around the shoulder, or the back slapping some men use to greet friends or family
Love/Intimacy Touch
involves tight hugs, kisses between lovers or close relatives
Sexual/Arousal Touch
used by lovers
What must the nurse use to evaluate touch?
Touch is based on the client’s preference, history, culture, and needs
Active Listening
refraining from other internal mental activities and concentrating exclusively on what the patient says
Active Observation
watching the speaker’s nonverbal actions as he or she communicates
What does Active listening and observations help the nurse to do?
- Recognize the client’s most important issue
- Know what questions to ask
- Use of therapeutic communication techniques
- Prevents jumping to conclusions
- Objectively respond to message
Concrete Messages
- words are explicit and need no interpretation
- clear, direct, and easy to understand
- elicit more accurate responses
Abstract Messages
unclear patterns of words that often contain figures of speech that are difficult to interpret
Broad Openings
allowing the client to take the initiative in introducing the topic
Focusing
concentrating on a single point
Giving Information
making available the facts that the client’s need
Making Observations
verbalizing what the nurse perceives
Reflecting
directing the client actions, thoughts, and feelings back to client
Restating
repeating the main idea expressed
Silence
absence of verbal communication, which provides time for the client to put thoughts or feelings into words, to gain composure, or to continue talking
What are some nontherapeutic communication techniques you should avoid?
Advising, belittling, challenging, probing, reassuring, etc…
Advising
BAD
telling the client what to do
Belittling
BAD
misjudging the degree of the client’s discomfort
Disagreeing
BAD
opposing the clients ideas
Disapproving
BAD
denouncing the client’s behavior or ideas
Giving Approval
BAD
sanctioning the client’s behavior or ideas
Challenging
BAD
demanding proof from the client
Probing
BAD
persistent questioning of the client
Reassuring
BAD
indicating there is no reason for anxiety or other feelings of discomfort
What are three facial expressions to look for?
Expressive
Impassive
Confusing
Expressive Facial Expression
portrays the person’s moment by moment thoughts, feelings, and needs
-may be evident even when the person does not want to express themselves
Impassive Face
face is frozen into an emotionless deadpan expression similar to a mask
Confusing Face
expression that is the opposite of what the person wants to convey
Vocal Cues
nonverbal sound signals transmitted along with the content
Eye Contact
looking into the other person’s eyes during communication, used to assess the other person and environment and to indicate whose turn it is to speak
-increases during listening and decreases during speaking
Nondirective Role
in this type of therapeutic communication, use broad openings and open-ended questions to collect information and to help the client identify and discuss concerns
Directive Role
Used when the client is suicidal, expressing a crisis, or out of touch with reality by asking direct yes/no questions and using problem solving to help develop ne coping mechanisms to deal with present issues
Assertive Communication
the ability to express positive and negative ideas and feelings in an open, honest, and direct way
-focus on “I” statements
Four types of responses
Aggressive
Passive-aggressive
Passive
Assertive
