Barriers to therapeutic communication

A barrier to communication is something that impairs transmitting the message

or receiving the message for either the psychiatric nurse or the patient. A goal of therapeutic communication is to avoid barriers to communication. Avoiding barriers to communication is challenging since many of them are natural responses most people use in a conversation. Therefore, the psychiatric nurse must make a conscious effort to modify a natural response to a therapeutic communication response.

Here are common barriers to communication:

Approval/Disapproval: The nurse passes judgment on the patient’s statement or action. The nurse should be nonjudgmental about a patient.
“You made a good choice.”
Giving Advice: The nurse makes a decision for the patient. The nurse should discuss options and let the patient make their own decision.
“Just say no.”
Defending: The nurse protects a person from verbal attack by a patient. The patient has the right to criticize a person or situation.
“Your doctor doesn’t make mistakes.”
Rejecting: The nurse rejects the patient’s ideas. The nurse should use therapeutic communication techniques to enable the patient to discover for themself that the idea is unsound.
“Enough! Don’t tell me that again!”
Why: The nurse should not ask the patient to provide a reason for their statements or behaviors. This places the patient in a defensive position and breaks down communication with the nurse.
“Why do you act that way?”