All tagged patient centered
Imagine you’re in the middle of a conversation. It’s going well. The person in front of you is opening up and it feels like they are starting to trust you. You say “tell me more” or “say more”. Suddenly, it feels like the air has been sucked out of the room.
What happened?
Challenging clients don't trust you.
It may not be not be personal. Your clients may not trust the system that you represent. (Because you do represent a system or institution, whether you like it or not.) It may be the "healthcare system", for example, that they distrust or any another large, powerful institution. Whatever it is, people act out in challenging ways because they don't feel safe in the "care" that their institution offers.
Do you ask “what happened to you?” instead of “what’s wrong with you?” Both questions, unfortunately, still have more in common than they do different.
One trick is to having something sink in is to repeat it.