The Therapeutic Conversation

Changes to modern medicine mean less time devoted to therapeutic discussion.

An article published early this year in the New York Times titled The Conversation Placebo [1] discovered that a good conversation with a doctor can produce effective pain relief in patients comparable to some prescribed analgesic medications!

Words are powerful. The potential for language to heal, or harm is a fascinating topic and one which is beautifully discussed in article written by Australian pain specialist Dr Michael Vagg The right words matter when talking about pain [2] which is well worth a read.

Intuitively we all recognise these concepts, but we have failed to explicitly acknowledge the positive role that conversation can have in treating illness.

Many patients visit their doctor solely for a therapeutic chat. It is not uncommon for elderly and isolated individuals to fabricate excuses for a visit to the doc. I know one patient with a horrible chronic and inevitably fatal condition who confided, ‘I wish doctors would stop telling me there is nothing more they can do for me and then just sending me away with no hope, never to see me again as a patient’.

She wants a doctor who she can see regularly for reassurance and support through her suffering. Sometimes conversation is the best healing tool we have in our arsenal when there is nothing else left. Sadly, doctors are often too busy to incorporate a solid healing chat into a consultation. This is perhaps one of the greatest losses in modern medical practice.

However, the power of the therapeutic conversation is not just limited to medical professionals. We all have it!

There are thousands of people suffering in silence all around us who could benefit from a good solid chat; shy people at work who don’t have a close friend, elderly people who society has forgotten, languishing in their homes, or aged care facilities, people who can’t get out and about because of chronic illnesses, patients convalescing in hospitals, colleagues who are desperately depressed but put on a brave face, people grieving losses of various types, young people who are struggling, the list goes on and on an on.

Do not underestimate the power of the simple act of conversation. Taking a commitment to have regular catch up chats with someone you know could turn their life around literally and be a great source of pain relief and distraction therapy for both parties.

Be brave and reach out to someone you think is in need of a chat and do it on a regular basis. Connect!

References

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/opinion/sunday/the-conversationplacebo.html

[2] https://theconversation.com/the-right-words-matter-when-talking-aboutpain-50450

*Dr Anonymous is known to the Editor