[Dysphagia] "Familiarity breeds contempt"

[pressmah at sjhmc.org (Pressman, Hilda)]

I'm not sure what began this thread but I would like to mention that it is
also critical that clinicians of all levels of experience feel free to ask
questions.  Being supportive of the individual with limited experience or
the clinician functioning without any support is very important.  When
things get testy people are hesitant to become involved.  Hilda Pressman

-----Original Message-----
From: HAL9600@aol.com [mailto:HAL9600@aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 06, 2004 5:43 PM
To: connorswa@ph.upmc.edu; CFR42@aol.com; dysphagia@b9.com
Subject: Re: [Dysphagia] "Familiarity breeds contempt"


In a message dated 6/6/04 1:45:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
connorswa@ph.upmc.edu writes:

<< I'm not sure what has actually happened here but.....First of all,
playing
 devil's advocate is an excellent way to learn and problem solve.
Therefore,
 one should be aware of the difference between that and attacking behavior.
 Secondly, any person who provides the services to patients definitely
should
 have sufficient interviewing and counseling skills to avoid personalizing
 their part of the communicative interaction.  Thirdly, get a tougher skin;
 get over it.  Focus on the content, not the manner.  
  >>
If you read back a bit in the posts you'll get the reason for my post.  I 
agree with socratic method but I don't think that was the case here.  

As far as focusing on content, rather than the manner, an admirable ability 
but research on this particular subject--over 40 years of it--is clear and 
unequivocal.  We humans can't manage it.  How we communicate simply matters
more 
than the content to us.  

Professionals aren't exempt.  Arguably, they should be, but I wouldn't make 
that argument.  It seems to me that professional skills ought to include the

extra it requires to communicate without saying or doing things that will 
predictably evoke personal responses.  That skill set is certainly required
when we 
communicate with patients, so why would we not apply it to professional 
communication as well.  Communication that fails in this regard, it seems to
me, is 
careless, undisciplined...unprofessional.

Why should we be satisfied with less?  Does the content matter more than the

relationships?

Gerry Brooks
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