They've been doing some construction around my house, blocking off the street for about two weeks. It's astounding the number of people who pass the "road closed" barrier, get out of their car, move two more barriers to proceed on their original course rather than go 30 seconds off their course; a block out of their way.
It's an interesting observation of people and change and makes me think about the barriers many dental practices unwittingly put up.
The biggest barrier to relationship based dentistry is providing reasons for change by teaching, and telling. Listening alone isn't enough. EQ alone isn't enough. To truly facilitate the clarification of values which drive all behaviors, a conversational framework is needed to replace questions, teaching and telling.
Water bottles, Ipods, coffee and syrupy customer service is like painting over rust if interactions lack the skills required so that people feel profoundly understood.
Learning and motivation is an inside job. Until the client can place meaning on the problem, there is no problem! Telling them what meaning they should place upon any condition risks creating defensive reactance which can strengthen their resolve for the status quo.
Every decision to change involves ambivalence. It's normal. Dental professionals need to understand how to use a matrix of listening, delivering accurate empathy, different types of reflections to move people to action in as clients are facilitated to think out loud; metabolizing thoughts and feelings; identifying the congruence or incongruence with their values.
Motivational Interviewing is a semi directive, non judgemental communication skill that removes all barriers and sets a person free to choose according to their own values structure. It's counterintuitive. Over 80 clinical trials now support the methods.
As Pascal stated in 1623, “People are more likely to be persuaded by the reasons they have themselves discovered than by those that come into the minds of others.” Apparently, while change seems continuous some human behaviors remain constant. Remove the barriers so that people don't go around them either with defensiveness, silence, or no action or worse, choose a completely different route...another practice.
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