Mental health articles

Therapeutic communication is the primary tool used in a therapeutic relationship

and involves both verbal and nonverbal communication. The transactionaltheory model is a model for therapeutic communication. The transactional model is a communication process where a message is sent using face-to-face communication enabling the transmission of verbal and nonverbal messages simultaneously by the psychiatric nurse and the patient. Successful communication occurs when the sender’s message is received as intended by the sender. Communication is influenced by the following factors:

• Preexisting Condition: Preexisting conditions are beliefs, knowledge, developmental level, culture, social status, and religion.
• Environmental Conditions: Environmental conditions are distance (the space between the nurse and the patient during the communication process); territoriality (who “owns” the space where the communication takes place. For example, the patient “owns” the space in the patient’s room. The nurse “owns” the space at the nurse’s station. A conference room is a neutral territory where no one “owns” the space.); and density (the number of participants in the communication).
• Nonverbal Communication: Nonverbal communication factors are: facial expressions, maintaining eye contact, posture, appearance, and paralanguage that conveys emotion (volume, intonation of speech, and pitch that modifies meaning of the verbal message).

Tags: nurse, therapeutic communication