"I'm a world expert on breaking bad news. Not because I'm some sort of empath or have any special degrees in psychology or grief management. But after several decades as an active neurosurgeon in major medical centers/ trauma centers, I've had to break god-awful news to enumerable people-individuals whose loved ones have been killed, or are in coma, or are paralyzed from the neck down, or cannot move one side of their bodies, or can no longer speak;"
"Hopefully, most people don't have to break such awful news or don't have to do so with frequency. But I have to think that many of the concepts and strategies I learned through decades of delivering such information may be useful to others when facing fraught situations and communications. I've grouped them under the acronym "TEACH," but for temporal purposes, I rearranged the lettering to "AETHC.""
Breaking bad news is a skill that can be developed through repeated practice in high‑stakes medical settings. Begin by assessing what recipients already understand and their capacity to process new information. Deliver information with honesty and clarity to build trust and connection while avoiding brutalness. Supplement facts with explanations of circumstances and implications to educate recipients and help them make sense of outcomes. Use structured frameworks such as TEACH (rearranged as AETHC) to guide assessment, questioning, timing, and communication. Aim to ease immediate pain and limit downstream emotional harm while remaining candid and supportive.
Read at Psychology Today
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