Which nursing statement is a good example of the therapeutic communication technique of focusing?
A. “Describe one of the best things that happened to you this week.”
B. “I’m having a difficult time understanding what you mean.”
C. “Your counseling session is in 30 minutes. I’ll stay with you until then.”
D. “You mentioned your relationship with your father. Let’s discuss that further.”

The answer to this is letter D. This is a sign that the nurse would like to focus on a particular word or phrase. There are times when people would like to know more about something in order to understand the patient well.

Through focusing, the patient can provide the needed information without too much effort. There may be some more prompting that would need to be done. Some patients have the tendency to talk about one topic after the other.

The transition can be a bit confusing even for professionals who have been doing what they usually do for a long time. Focusing is well-known as one of the effective therapeutic communication techniques.