She was a competent, experienced doctor. But official complaints had come in about her patient interactions. She was being described as hostile, dismissive, like she wasn't listening. The college that regulates her profession mandated that she seek help.
She came to Speak Fluent not entirely sure what needed to change. From the inside, she wasn't trying to be hostile. Her environment had changed, people seemed to come in already thinking they knew the problem and solution. She was trying to do her job the best way she knew how, but it wasn't enough.
Dr. S went into a deep dive with her speech therapist to find out what was actually happening in her conversations, and what needed to change. They role-played patient interactions. Dr. S explained her reasoning behind why she chose to respond the way she did. What the assessment revealed was a pattern of habits that made her sound dismissive to her patients.
Her tone of voice sounded condescending. Her body language, the crossed arms, the backwards lean, made her seem closed off and cold. Her questions, when she asked them, were rhetorical rather than actually curious. And she missed opportunities to educate her patient and personalize her suggestions.
Her speech therapist helped her work through each aspect of communication. Dr. S was also encouraged to compare how she approached patient conversations with how other physicians in her practice navigated the same challenges. What are some things they do differently, no matter how small?
Awareness came first. Once she could hear her own tone and see her own body language clearly, she began to understand how she sounded to patients. She hadn't realized. After realizing, it was much easier to notice and choose different communication habits during her patient interactions: an extra question, education, an observation framed objectively.
After six sessions, the doctor who had been reported for hostility was feeling great about her patient conversations. She asked more questions. She personalized her interactions. She stayed present in the moments that mattered and could feel a difference in her clients. Her patients no longer acted defensively because they felt heard.
And of course, the complaints stopped.
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