Help on therapeutic communication techniques

[mpihl]

If you had a patient who was talking about their medication and how they no longer were taking it but no real reason on why they stopped and you responded with

"You stopped taking your medication"

Would this be considered a reflecting or focusing technique?

I thought it was a reflecting technique but someone else I know says they think it it focusing so if anybody could help I would appreciate it!

Thanks

[sleepysilver]

This is a tricky one. Personally, I think this technique is an example of restating. Restating is stating exactly what the patient said and it gives them a chance to elaborate or modify their feelings which is what I think you intended. Reflecting is more along the lines of restating what the patient said in the form of a question. An example whould be if the patient said, "Do you think I should tell the doctor about..." and you said, "Do you think you should?" Your example could be focusing since focusing is when you pursue the topic until its meaning is clear but since you repeated the patient's statement I would have to say it's restating. Does that make sense? Hope this helped!

Here is a good website that I use sometimes when distinguising between techniques http://nursingcrib.com/nursing-notes-reviewer/psychiatric-mental-health-nursing/therapeutic-and-non-therapeutic-communication/

[mpihl]

I actually meant to put restating and not reflecting. So I think your response gives me more confidence that restating is the appropriate technique. Thank you for that website I have never heard of it and that link looks like it can be very helpful!!

Thanks!

[NCRNMDM, ASN, RN]

In the references specific to my program, this is restating. The patient told you that they stopped taking their medications, so you restated what they just said. It is a therapeutic technique. Restating using the exact words of the patient gives the patient evidence that he/she has been heard. It also allows clarification if there has been a misunderstanding. Restating ideas using different words from what the patient has said can sometimes reflect thoughts that the patient has overlooked or denied. Focusing would entail saying something like, "Could you talk more about stopping your medication? It appears that idea is worth looking at more closely." By focusing, you are concentrating on a single point. Reflecting is repeating back the patient's questions, feelings, or ideas. It gives the patient the idea that he has the right to have opinions and to think for himself. Restating and reflecting aren't really all that different. If you restated what the patient said in order to clarify and make sure that you hadn't misheard, then you were using restating. If you restated in order to encourage the patient to continue talking and get more information, then you used a combination of restating and reflecting, but you focused more heavily on reflecting.

It could go something like this: Patient, "I stopped taking my medications."

You, "You stopped taking your medications?"

Patient, "Yes, I stopped taking them."

You, "What made you feel as though you should stop taking your medications?"

In this scenario you've used, restating, reflecting, and encouraging evaluation.

[mpihl]

Thank you. The feedback is really helping me realize I am actually understanding the techniques!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

a good response to many such disclosures is, "tell me more about that."

you'll get everything from, "i lost my insurance and i can't afford it," to "my herbal medicine provider says i should take this purple decoction instead," to "i decided to try homeopathy and deep colon cleansing," to "i didn't feel any different when i didn't take it," to "i took it until i used it up, so i don't need to take it anymore." what you say next depends on what the situation is. it might also be, "tell me more about that."