Communication & Behaviour Change Skills for Clinical Practice

An interactive course exploring communication,
behaviour change, and clinical practice

Overview

This course explores how communication shapes clinical outcomes.

Through a series of interactive sessions, we focus on how clinicians support behaviour change, navigate challenging conversations, and create environments that help people engage, adhere, and improve.

Rather than focusing only on knowledge and technique, the course examines the human dynamics of clinical practice — how people think, communicate, and interpret what happens around them.

Course details

Format: Online (Zoom)

Duration: 3 × 4‑hour sessions (12 hours total)

Audience: Healthcare clinicians and coaches

(including physiotherapists, sports therapists, massage therapists, osteopaths, chiropractors, podiatrists, nutritionists, and trainers)

February 2027 course dates

📅 Session 1 — Saturday 6 February, 13:00–17:00 (UK time)

📅 Session 2 — Saturday 13 February, 13:00–17:00 (UK time)

📅 Session 3 — Saturday 20 February, 13:00–17:00 (UK time)

Why this course matters

Effective communication sits at the heart of good clinical practice.

Behaviour change is rarely as simple as giving the right advice. Outcomes are shaped by how people understand, interpret, and respond to what we say — and by whether communication supports or undermines that process.

This course focuses on practical, realistic ways clinicians can adapt how they communicate to improve understanding, engagement, and outcomes.

What you'll gain

• Build stronger, more effective relationships with patients

• Encourage adherence to treatment and lifestyle change

• Navigate difficult or resistant conversations with greater confidence

• Support meaningful, long-term behaviour change
  
  

Course structure

Session 1 — Foundations of communication

• Historical roots of communication and behaviour models

• Psychological frameworks shaping clinical interaction

• Introduction to behaviour change concepts

Session 2 — Behaviour change in practice

• Motivational Interviewing principles

• Identifying barriers to change

• Communication techniques:
    - open-ended questions
    - affirmations
    - reflective listening
    - summarising

• Applied case discussions and role play

Session 3 — Advanced communication

• Handling resistance and ambivalence

• Delivering difficult information with clarity and care

• Conflict and de‑escalation

• Supporting sustained behaviour change over time