Responding to emotion

Our patients and their families face many difficult situations which can bring on strong emotion. It can be tempting to avoid it, try and reassure the patient or respond with facts. Responding by addressing the emotion itself is much more effective.

Learning to recognise and respond to emotion is a core communication skill that is central to empathic communication. Empathy can be thought of as a two stage process:

1. Clarifying and gaining a clear understanding and appreciation of another person’s situation or feelings
2. Communicating that understanding back to the patient in a visible and supportive way (5).

We can use ask – tell – ask, tell me more and our skills in recognising cues to try and understand the other person’s situation and emotions. The following skills help us communicate our understanding back to the patient.