Further Notes and Information
Q5 Do you find yourself talking about aspects of your personal life with some kinds of patients more than others – or with a particular patient more than others?
Identify what you are talking about – is it general chat about families and interests, or your own personal issues or problems? What proportion of time with the patient is taken up with this? Do you look to your patients for empathy and understanding when you talk about personal issues?
Some limited self-disclosure can be useful in terms of establishing a rapport with patients; giving no information at all can occur to patients as cold or high-handed. Disclosure becomes problematic when the doctor-patient dynamic tips into the conversation being about the practitioner’s problems rather than the patients or takes up too much of the consultation. Some patients require more carefully managed boundaries than others. Clinicians have found that selecting and mastering a few phrases can change how they relate to the patient for the better. Write down some key phrases and work them through with a colleague. Once you put them into practice they will become part of your working life.