Communication Skills: A – Ask/Assess

Communication is an essential component of all therapeutic interventions. Good communication skills help in establishing and fostering a therapeutic relationship. The following communication skills are important i.e. Listening, Paraphrasing, Summarizing, Questioning as well as non-verbal communication.

Listening actively means giving your full attention – that is, physically, mentally and emotionally – which needs to be communicated to the person who is talking. Effective listening is therefore a cognitive, behavioural and an affective process.

Listening involves the following:

• providing time for the person to tell his/her story
• offering a quiet and private space, free from distractions to listen to the person
• listening with the purpose of understanding the person’s message
• giving full attention by focusing on what the person is saying
• tuning out external distractions, such as background noises
• tuning out internal distractions, such as thoughts about what to say next.

In the following brief presentation, the important features of effective communication are highlighted.

English

Hindi

Kannada

Video on communication skills