Simple Practical Strategies to Manage Patient Distress in a GP Consult

Dr Susan Barnett discusses the concept of being comfortable with the uncomfortable when confronted with a distressed patient in the surgery. She shares the ‘Hand Model of the Brain' tool which explains how we can use the frontal cortex in our brain to train ourselves to moderate our fight/flight/freeze response (our impulse, knee-jerk reaction to threat) to improve communication with patients. She also shares strategies to ensure that the patient feels heard, validated, and treated with respect.