When we seek help professional help with our problems, especially in health fields such as Massage Therapy and Naturopathic Medicine, finding the right way to communicate of all of the relevant information can be difficult.
You may want to give a timeline of how your experiences or injuries/ailments have progressed. Or tell your clinician about how you are feeling right now. But sometimes it can be hard to articulate exactly what the problem is.
Other times, it might seem like your therapist isn’t listening… And unfortunately sometimes you are right!
Just like their clients, therapists come to each new visit trying to get all the information they can to make an accurate diagnosis. A mismatch in communication can leave a client feeling unheard or a therapist in the dark. While an effective interviewer can help work passed the jumble of information and bring clarity to whatever you are facing, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
Here are some tips for what you can do to prepare even before you get to a clinician’s office:
- When did you first notice the problem?
- What else was going on in your life at the time?
- Has this happened to you before? Is it recurring?
- Does anything make it better or worse?
- What is the impact on your life?
- Are there things that you just can’t do because of it?
- What other therapies have you tried already?
When all else fails, try asking them ‘What do you need to know?’
These are all very typical questions that can help shed light on what is going on for you. Just going through them on your own can even help you find out what to do next yourself!
Being clear on all the details before going into an appointment will make your appointment go that much smoother, and hopefully save you time and money as well!
