Do healthcare practitioners want communication training?

When it comes to treating someone with chronic pain or other conditions that seem to defy a standard treatment approach, words—and the way they are delivered by clinicians—really matter.

My research showed the challenges clinicians face when they try to explain adolescent nonspecific persistent back pain to parents using the biopsychosocial model (Hauber et al., 2025). They also struggled to form effective treatment relationships in a triad—not only with their young patient, but also with the parent legally responsible for the patient.

Research on adults with chronic pain shows that when they rate their clinicians as having good communication skills, including empathy, the patients’ pain intensity is lower (Licciardone et al., 2024; Ruben et al., 2018).

However, skills training in how to communicate with patients about social stressors, the social aspects of pain, and the biopsychosocial model is either limited in their formal education or not practiced enough to make it feel normal and natural (Thompson et al., 2018; van Dijk et al., 2023).

Left on one’s own, it’s hard to figure out how to explain how psychosocial factors affect pain without making the patient feel invalidated or disbelieved.

It’s easier to just blame the pain on structural issues, even when the clinician is certain that those structural issues are just incidental and not the actual cause of pain.

Clinicians struggle to find the right balance between “teaching” the patient about pain and empathically listening to what the patient needs to share.

What Do Patients Think About Clinician Communication?

Qualitative studies of patients show, however, that empathic listening can be a prerequisite to their healing. And indeed, patients appreciate when clinicians focus their attention on the psychosocial aspects of communication: empathy, mirroring, and noticing and validating emotional content.

The results of some outstanding randomized controlled trials are clear: An enhanced therapeutic alliance and empathic communication actually work as active treatment to reduce chronic back pain (see the two recent trials I cite in the Person-centered Communication text).

According to patients, the need for person-centered communication training for clinicians is clearly there.

What Do YOU Think?

• Do clinicians really want training in how to communicate better with patients in pain?
  
• Do you struggle to assess and address the social aspects of the biopsychosocial model in your patient encounters?
  
• Do you wish you had guidance and evidence-based strategies to approach and lead such conversations, and advice on what to do when difficulties arise?
  
• If you found out about a workshop that addressed your needs, would you register for it?

Share your thoughts with me!

As part of an innovative program from the German government called EXIST-Women-- designed to assist female start-up founders--I’m currently engaging in in-depth research to understand the needs and challenges of clinicians in Europe and North America who treat patients with persistent pain and other chronic symptoms that are unresponsive to standard treatment.

My goal is to learn from as many of you as possible:

• What are your greatest needs in relation to person-centered pain communication? 
• What challenges do you face when attempting to assess and address the social aspects of the biopsychosocial model in pain treatment?

Whom Do I Want to Interview?

To take part, you can work in any specialty or general practice located in any country in the world, and you can work with adults or children, no matter your years of experience.

If you work with people who have lived experience of persistent pain, please consider spending 30 to 40 minutes telling me about your experience. Complete the form on the Share Your Views page now. 

Your input will directly shape the content of possible future trainings.

Be a part of the solution.

Sign up to be interviewed about your experiences and challenges now.

References:
Hauber, S. D., Robinson, K., & O’Sullivan, K. (2025). ‘It can be very complicated’: A qualitative analysis of clinicians’ practices and perspectives on treating adolescents with nonspecific persistent back pain. Clinical Rehabilitation, 39(4), 549–558. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692155251324589

Licciardone, J. C., Tran, Y., Ngo, K., Toledo, D., Peddireddy, N., & Aryal, S. (2024). Physician empathy and chronic pain outcomes. JAMA Network Open, 7(4), e246026. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.6026

Ruben, M. A., Meterko, M., & Bokhour, B. G. (2018). Do patient perceptions of provider communication relate to experiences of physical pain? Patient Education and Counseling, 101(2), 209–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2017.08.002

Thompson, K., Johnson, M. I., Milligan, J., & Briggs, M. (2018). Twenty-five years of pain education research—what have we learned? Findings from a comprehensive scoping review of research into pre-registration pain education for health professionals. PAIN, 159(11), 2146. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001352

van Dijk, H., Köke, A. J. A., Elbers, S., Mollema, J., Smeets, R. J. E. M., & Wittink, H. (2023). Physiotherapists using the biopsychosocial model for chronic pain: Barriers and facilitators—A scoping review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(2), 1634. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021634