More Questions:

· Assertiveness Quiz
· MDrap Question of the Day

See your name on MDrap! Send in your question about patient-physician communication and MDrap will post the most widely applicable question.

Two examples of useful questions are:

I am afraid to disagree with my physician's medical opinion. What can I do?

What do you recommend I do when my physician interrupts my story?

Do you know what I mean?
How are you?
How is your day going?
What is going on?

These are examples of questions that you can ask of the other person to stimulate communication.

Responses that show that you are listening to what your partner has to say can include:

I was thinking the same thing about…
That is an interesting point you just made about…
Tell me more about that.
It seems that you have given this topic a lot of thought.

To discuss feelings, sample statements may include:

I like it when you tell me about your day. I feel dismissed and unimportant when you do not show any sexual interest in me. I am disappointed that we do not talk on a regular basis.

To confirm understanding, choose from some of the following statements:

I understand that you are tired and fed up. Is that correct? It sounds as if you are blaming me for your problems, is that right? I get that it is difficult for you to express your emotions. Correct me if I am wrong but it seems that you are…