One specific interaction that I found that demonstrated therapeutic communication was towards the beginning of the interview, and one team member responded to the patient and said, “I understand, that must be really difficult for you.” This is an example of validation and can help the patient feel understood and that they are in a safe place to discuss their feelings, which was the case as the patient began to open up more after that. 

I also liked how someone else asked how the topic of divorce makes him feel, as this is a recent life change and could be one of the major triggers for his mental health issue currently. This allowed the patient to explore how he truly felt about the topic, which he then explains that he blames himself mostly, and it has been the reason that he hasn’t been himself for the past year. 

Another example of therapeutic communication was when one of the team members interpreted what the patient was talking about and asked if it was a feeling of isolation that he had. This helps further navigate the patient’s feelings and help direct plan of care. 

When the patient shares that he has had thoughts of suicidal ideation and that the world may be better off without him, a team member says, “those must have been really scary thoughts that you were having.” I feel like this is another example of interpretation and helps identify underlying feelings of the patient. 

“You keep saying that you feel like you’re not useful to your kids, how does that make you feel?” This helps explore the relationship between the patient and his kids and explore more of his family issues. By watching these interviews, I was able to see how therapeutic communication is executed during a nurse-patient relationship, which helps me better understand how to take what we learned in class and how to use that during real life patient care. Using therapeutic relationship is especially crucial in the mental health assessment as it helps gauge the patient’s thoughts and feelings, as well as creating trust and rapport in order to navigate and reach an effective plan of care for the patient