How to Coach Yourself and Others Coaching and Counseling in Difficult Circumstances | Page 75

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Choose topic in which they are expert (1/28)
Try to engage the patient in a conversational topic of their interest, in which they have more expert
knowledge so that
‘he's the master of it in a way, and he retains a sense of pride’.
Avoid (3/28)
Past a certain point it was recognised that it was safer to give such patients ‘space’ and not to ‘spend
time’ with them until they were in a calmer state – or unless needed to de-escalate potential violent
situations.

Nonverbal communication, vocabulary and timing
As we specifically asked interviewees not to give us the ‘textbook communication skills’ few of
them mentioned such basic skills as showing attentiveness through posture, facing the patient, eye
contact, use of ‘mm’s’ and ‘ah’s’, head nodding etc. The majority of themes w W&RvV