Communicating With Challenging Patients and Their Families

Presented in collaboration with The REACH Institute.

Primary care providers (PCPs) and mental health clinicians can both face communication difficulties when dealing with patients and their families with particular challenges such as depression or interpersonal difficulties. This webinar will focus on methods for improving communication and engagement and developing strategies that will avoid common misunderstandings in these clinical situations and improve both clinical efficiency and patient outcomes. We will discuss how to actively listen and access deeper levels of empathic communication, thereby building increased patient trust and engagement. This can lead to enlisting the patients and their families as full partners in the clinical encounter, improving the clinician-patient relationship and patient outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

1. Overcome common barriers to successful communication with patients and their families.
2. Communicate empathically and effectively in order to engage patients and their families as partners in in treatment.
3. Facilitate shared decision-making and joint responsibility for the treatment process.