For me telling tales is a vital way to communicate with my patents.

We have all been in the situation where the patient looks at you in “that” way and you just know they either do not believe you, do not trust you or are having trouble engaging in what you are saying.

If you look at what you do all day- well talking is the biggest thing!, and the main reason we do this is to get patents to comply. You can be the best technical physio or rehab instructor in the world, but if the patients do not believe you- they will not comply or engage and you will be wasting your time and effort!

So with in the communication we give advice- I truly believe that if the patient does not have a belief in what you are saying, have a belief in you and feels connected to you in some way, they will never comply. You can see it in their body language, slight expressions, and you know you have lost them…. How ever this should never be a permanent end to the situation.

I also believe that this is why some therapists have more success than others- two therapists could do the same thing technically, but the patient will respond better to one therapist than the other. So how do you get them to believe?  How can you make yourself the one?

• Take an acting course- Well not really, but start to play a role that you know will affect that person- no two people will need the same you! So you can not always be yourself! Just a modified version of you! Good therapists are great actors !
• Tell lies- Well not really- using stories about yourself- your family and situations you have been in can often help.  Use descriptive situations and stories about you, what you have done. You are asking people to tell you things that often they do not want to, so do not expect them to tell you everything if you tell them nothing about you! That is just the way that relationships- even therapeutic ones work! CAUTION…. it is often better to tell them a version of the the truth- or slightly less than the whole truth when talking about these things. Its about them- not you! Do not go off loading to patients- that is what your cat/dog/husband/colleagues/best mate is for!
• Tell stories- Well yes! Storytelling, in the form of a detailed narrative, causes even the most educated person to set aside their cynicism and critical nature as they are ‘transported’ away from themselves and into the tale. Start by telling them about some one you saw before who had some thing very similar, and what you did to help and what they did, how diligent they where and that yesterday you talked to them on the phone and they felt better. It is a very helpful tactic to get the patient to believe you have seen this before and that you had success- with out just saying “I know what this is- do this  and that and you will get better.” Using more vivid examples and better  descriptive story telling is more useful that straight talking some times. Use your imagination- go back and remember all those patients you have treated and pull a success story and other details to the front of your memory and use them to your advantage. Think about when you are chatting to friends and someone is telling a great story about how caught up in it you become and how enthralling it can be. It is an art- as you can see often some friends are great story tellers and therefore great company and conservationists, and are warm and people love them! 
• Use metaphors and stories from literature, TV and News- change them up a gear- make them relevant to what you need to do and relevant to the patient-otherwise they will not listen- its just boring! Watch this interview about the influence of story telling- see how powerful it can be on your brain.
• Make them believe- well everyone can be won over- as long as you know how to read them- they are like books in a library and no two will be the same. It is your challenge to manipulate the book to get the happy ending you want!
• Be manipulative- pull the conversation in the direction you want! ( another whole blog on this one!)
• And the biggest one- BELEIVE IN YOURSELF and your skills!