Applying transactional analysis and personality assessment to improve patient counseling and communication skills

To teach pharmacy students how to apply transactional analysis and personality assessment to patient counseling to improve communication.

A lecture series for a required pharmacy communications class was developed to teach pharmacy students how to apply transactional analysis and personality assessment to patient counseling. Students were asked to apply these techniques and to report their experiences. A personality self-assessment was also conducted.

After attending the lecture series, students were able to apply the techniques and demonstrated an understanding of the psychological factors that may affect patient communication, an appreciation for the diversity created by different personality types, the ability to engage patients based on adult-to-adult interaction cues, and the ability to adapt the interactive patient counseling model to different personality traits.

Students gained a greater awareness of transactional analysis and personality assessment by applying these concepts. This understanding will help students communicate more effectively with patients.