DocCom Module 13: Responding to strong emotions: Sadness, Anger, Fear

Questions for Reflection: 1. In what circumstances are you aware when a patient is feeling strong emotions? In what situations are you caught off guard? 2. How do you respond to patients who get angry with you? 3. When patients demonstrate strong emotions, which of your reactions tend to help the situation resolve? Which tend to escalate discomfort in the room? 4. In your non-medical life, does fear, anger, or sadness tend to cause you the most discomfort? 5. How do you determine whether you need specialty consultations with patients who are emotionally distressed? When do you consult your peers? Key Principles: 1. Strong emotions can originate in the patient or the physician, or the strong emotions can derive from the interaction between physician and patient. Identifying the origin of emotions promotes clear boundaries and enhanced clinical effectiveness. 2. Responding to emotions thoughtfully tends to strengthen the clinical alliance and promote healing; responding reactively or defensively tends to disrupt or weaken that alliance and diminish both patients' and physicians' satisfaction. 3. Strong emotions in physician-patient interactions are neither good nor bad. They are a natural human consequence of life-changing events. 4. Exploring physicians' emotions that arise in the interview as well as the ways that physicians respond to patients' emotions promotes personal and professional