Essay On The Five C's Of Communication

As humans, we constantly interact with other humans and the environment. The interaction with other people normally involves some type of communication. These communication interactions are difficult at times, and as a future occupational therapist it is important that I learn how to respond to a difficult interaction. Since I live with two other roommates, I constantly put my communication techniques to the test. Recently, I had a difficult interaction with one of my roommates because she had a stress induced melt down. In the Therapeutic Communications for Healthcare textbook, Tamparo and Lindh (2008) reference Paul Welter’s levels of need (pp. 65-66). From these levels of need, my roommate was in a predicament. Since my roommate was in the

More specifically, if an individual uses the five C’s they would improve negative interactions. Also, the use of proper verbal communication, nonverbal communication, and listening skills will help overcome the negative interactions that sometimes come along when people communicate with each other. The five C’s of communication are complete, clear, concise, cohesive, and courteous (Tamparo & Lindh, 2008, pp. 13-14). The message that you convey must be complete, clear, concise, and cohesive. This helps the other person understand what was said. The other individual will open up and understand what was said if a therapeutic courteous approach was used. Appropriate words and tone of voice help an individual clear any confusion about the message. As for nonverbal communication, it is important to match facial expressions with verbal communication. Lastly, the ability to listen to the other person can be a therapeutic technique that shows you care and want to help them solve their

I used the five C’s to help resolve the conflict. I made sure that the information that I communicated with my roommate was complete, clear, concise, and cohesive. I made sure I used the first four C’s because it was important that what I said made sense to her. These four C’s helped resolve the problem she had because of her stress induced melt down. Another important C in this situation was courteousness. I didn’t want to be rude to her when she told me about her problem. If I was rude, she would have closed down and I would not have been able to help her. With my verbal communication, I was able to stop the melt down so she could tell me what caused her so much stress. Since I know that it is an important therapeutic technique to listen, I sat down with my roommate and really listened to what made her so stressed. After I understood what caused her the stress, I was able to collaborate with her and come up with a solution to the stressful situation. Nonverbally, I sat with her and showed with my face and body posture that I did care and that I did want to help her find a solution to her problem. Also, with nonverbal communication I tried to pay attention to her body language so I could catch signals that she did not say, but showed. This difficult communication interaction allowed me to put the therapeutic skills that I learned in this class to the test to see if I