The Consultation, published almost 20 years ago by the same authors, has been completely rewritten. The New Consultation will be an essential aid for all doctors and their educators to increase the effectiveness of their consultations and to help to make them more patient-centred. It includes theoretical background as well as practical help for both consulters and teachers. The consultation is 'the central act of medicine': the meeting between the patient and the doctor. The first part of the book takes the reader from the context of the consultation in society and with the medical profession, to the intimacy of the consulting room, and then delves into its processes. The reader is invited to share the individual perspectives of doctor and patient and to consider what will lead to positive outcomes. The last chapter of the first section puts all these factors together and provides a coherent, evidence-based description of the processes needed for an effective consultation for the patient, the doctor, and society. The second part of the book takes the reader into the practicalities of learning and teaching effective consultations. It starts with a brief description of the evidence for effective teaching and outlines the authors' experience of teaching in this way with over 1,000 doctors. Realizing that many doctors organize their own self-directed learning, the authors have included a chapter that enables individuals to develop their own consulting technique. Help is offered for teachers of the consultation in both undergraduate and postgraduate settings. The consultation is now assessed by a number of the royal medical colleges to measure competence and there is a chapter on these issues. The last chapter discusses the difficulties that many doctors still have in conducting patient-centred consultations and makes some suggestions for effective implementation of skills.

This book introduces a unique model of medical discourse that identifies the forms of talk – voices – that doctors and patients use during the consultation, and studies the dynamic interaction as it unfolds particularly in follow-up visits. Natural recordings, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and ethnographic observations provide the data for the research, which was carried out in an Outpatient Clinic in Santiago, Chile. Using an interactional sociolinguistic approach, analysis of the data identifies doctor–patient communication as a micro-performance of broader socio-cultural realities, in which social status, power, knowledge and personal beliefs and values all find expression in the consultative setting. Importantly, while both doctor and patient voices are shown to contribute to an essentially asymmetrical exchange, the study also identifies the holistic and empathic Fellow Human voice, which places doctors and patients on a more equal footing. In connection with this voice, the Spanish concept of simpatía is also discussed.While the model in this study was developed within a specific socio-cultural framework, it is hoped that it will be adapted and modified more widely and contribute to a better understanding between doctors and their patients.

Intended for general practitioners, medical students, and behavioral scientists, this book provides a comprehensive, practical guide to effective consulting in general practice and to how consulting skills may be taught and learned. The authors suggest guidelines for evaluation consultations and for assessing the costs and benefits of various methods. (Oxford General Practice Series)

The Inner Consultation, Second Edition sets out the author’s thoughts on how consulting skills, and methods of teaching them, have evolved in the 17 years since the book’s first publication. It also develops the theme of ‘curiosity’ as the key requirement for patient-centred consulting and provides a practical consultation model with five checkpoints to work to, advice for developing skills, and suggestions for doctors to ensure they know the cues in the consultation that require their full attention. All general practitioners, GP registrars, and medical professionals will find this book essential and thought-provoking reading.

Collaborative Consultation in Mental Health: Guidelines for the New Consultant offers a practical guide for professionals working ‘indirectly’ with clients through consultation with staff. As resources become more scarce in public services and a greater number of people seek mental health interventions, professionals are increasingly called upon to consult with practitioners who conduct face-to-face work with clients. This book provides an essential guide for those who are interested in developing their consultation competence. This book introduces the reader to the principles of a collaborative approach to consultation with practitioners, teams and agencies working in health, education, social care and mental health. The book takes the reader step-by-step through the collaborative consultation process, from preparing and setting up the context for consultation through to communicating effectively to build cooperative partnerships, and evaluating consultation outcomes. Collaborative Consultation in Mental Health guides the consultant in how to apply and develop these principles and practices within group consultation and also addresses common dilemmas and challenges consultants encounter. Collaborative Consultation in Mental Health will appeal to both new and experienced consultants working with adults, children, older people, people with intellectual disabilities and families across a range of contexts.

Consultation interventions are an increasingly popular alternative to clinical practice, allowing the practitioner to interact with and affect many different individuals and organizations. This type of work challenges mental health professionals, drawing on all the skills and resources they may possess, yet also offers some of the greatest rewards and opportunities for service. Filled with numerous case examples and checklists, Consultation Skills for Mental Health Professionals contains a wealth of information on this important area of practice. It provides a comprehensive source for working with a diverse clientele in a variety of settings, discussing both traditional mental health consultation models and the fast-growing field of organizational consulting. The guide is divided into four parts: Individual-Level Consulting Issues takes up individual career assessment and counseling, along with how organizational contexts affect individual jobs; leadership, management, and supervision; executive assessment, selection, interviewing, and development; and executive coaching. Consulting to Small Systems discusses working with teams and groups; planning and conducting training and teambuilding; diversity in the workplace and in consultation. Consulting to Large Systems covers how to work with large organizations, including organizational structure, terms, culture, and concepts, as well as processes such as change and resistance; how to assess organizations, and the characteristics of healthy and dysfunctional workplaces; and issues involved in organizational intervention. Special Consulting Topics include issues such as the practical aspects of running a consulting practice; the skills required for successful clinical consultation; consultation services for special populations; and crisis consultation, including critical incident stress management, psychological first aid, disaster recovery, media communication, and school crisis response.

Don’t Wait Until Something Goes Wrong to Think About Your Consultation Skills Designed specifically for busy health professionals working in primary care, The Naked Consultation: A Practical Guide to Primary Care Consultation Skills covers all aspects of the primary care consultation in a clear, concise, and highly readable manner. The book begins by breaking the primary care consultation into its components, making it easier to focus on particular areas and practise skills such as encouraging patients to explain what’s wrong, summarising and reflecting, and giving information to patients. The book then describes how to effectively use educational tools—such as videoing, random case analysis, problem case debriefing, and feedback—to improve consultations. It also explains in detail how to demonstrate proficient consultation skills in the Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP) exam and the importance of these skills in appraisal/revalidation. Certified for continuing professional development (CPD®) by The CPD Certification Service, this fully updated and revised Second Edition incorporates new thinking and consultation models, including the 6 S model and the new doctor, patient, illness model. It also provides detailed analysis of the latest Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) assessment tools, such as the clinical skills assessment exam (CSA) and the consultation observation tool (COT). Complete with illuminating case studies, photocopiable forms, and a jargon-busting appendix, The Naked Consultation: A Practical Guide to Primary Care Consultation Skills, Second Edition offers valuable insight into the key phases of the primary care consultation, the best features of common consultation models, and the real-world application of popular consultation techniques.