It was with great pleasure and admiration that I read your astute comments about communication that you made in your Editor`s Note in the August issue. I, too, believe that communication skills are an absolute necessity, not only in our dental practices, but also in our personal and family lives.
I have a unique perspective on communication skills, since I am engaged in three concurrent professional careers. I have been a wet-fingered dentist in private practice for 30 years. I also am a psychotherapist in private practice, and adjunct professor of counseling and development at Long Island University. As a psychotherapist, I have dealt with many significant life issues and experiences.
In spite of the diversity of the above issues, the one common thread that I have observed in my clients is a deficit in communication skills.
I consider myself to be very knowledgeable about communication skills. For more than half of my adult life, I had no clue as to what communication was or meant. Fortunately for me, this and many other issues in my life were resolved through long-term psychotherapy.
I used to tell my students that therapy changed my life. I have amended that and I now tell them that therapy saved my life.
I cannot emphasize too much how important I feel it is that the entire dental family within each individual office communicates effectively with one another, their patients and any other individuals or businesses with which they interact.
It is ironic that you mentioned the importance of communication because I came to that same conclusion a few months ago. I am in the process of developing a lecture program to present to the dental community from the perspective of my three careers. The main focus of my presentation would be communication and stress reduction.
Thanks for enlightening the dental community to the importance of effective communication skills.
Stanley Weiss, DDS, FAGD, MS
New York, NY
