One of my children asked me about how I help people who come to see me. I began reflecting on the different ways that I provide support and encouragement for my patients. I was able to identify a number of different things that I attempt to do.
I believe that my first effort is to help my patients feel that they can trust me to listen to them and value their participation in their own treatment. Their treatment is a collaborative effort and I need their input to be able to help them. I believe that my willingness to take the time required to listen to them, helps to develop the trust that is required to be able to help them.
After listening, I will ask questions to try to further define the specific nature of their symptoms as they experience them. I also will be sure that I ask about any stressful events in their lives and what they remember about them as well as whether or not they think about them now. I also carefully go over all of their experiences with medications and supplements. I will then go over their responses to checklists that I asked them to fill out before beginning our time together.
After I have a beginning understanding of some of their symptoms and stresses as well as how they cope and their strengths, together we will talk about possible diagnostic understanding and options for beginning treatment.
I feel that it is important that any initial diagnostic understanding be linked to specific symptoms they are having and the treatment I suggest is also specifically targeting some or all of their symptoms. We then discuss how they can use their coping skills to reduce their symptoms and to improve their quality of life. We also discuss new skills that they can develop and what symptoms they are focusing their skills on reducing.
At every appointment, we review progress in reducing symptoms and improving their quality of life. I listen carefully to what they report about how they are doing and I am careful to encourage them to pay attention to everything they are experiencing regarding their treatment as I have often seen that even things like unintended missing medication doses can represent their brain telling them something important about their medications.
I also write down suggestions and possible ways to use specific coping skills that we have discussed and give this to my patients at the end of each visit.