« Massage Your Elder Dog | Fingertips Home | An Interesting Factoid About Joint Replacement »

February 17, 2009

Silence As Communication

We've started a unit on communication in my Professional Practice class. Communication is a science and the majority of communication that occurs between people is non-verbal. This form of communication is through body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. For this reason, it is impossible NOT to communicate.

Silence can speak volumes. Think about the last time you said something inappropriate and no one said anything. I'll bet you wished a hole opened in the floor and delivered you away from that awkwardness. In massage school, they taught us the importance of holding silence as a therapeutic means for someone's grief. During an intake interview, a good clinician will remain calculatedly silent in order for a patient/client to tell their story without interruption. There is a plethora of information available if we can just remain silent and listen. Chances are that person has provided you with 85% of the information that you need in order to move forward with their treatment.

This is not an inherent skill in most of us. I know I'm a "wordy-bird," and as a result, probably talk too much. You can see it in the way that I write. So I'm excited to learn about this topic. I not only want to be a good therapist, I want to be a better person and enrich the relationships I have with people by being a better listener. I expect that once I master this, I will feel more confident in my interpersonal skills and not so self-conscious about the things I should or should not have said.

I'll share more from this course, because it is a topic that fascinates me. Next time I'll discuss the importance of "selling" the need to communicate when a client is non-compliant.

tags: massage massagetherapy wellness massage therapy bodywork health

Posted by linda at February 17, 2009 5:32 PM