The Family Doctor and Patients' Secrets

Abstract

One of the most difficult decisions for the family physician is when and to what extent to inquire into his patients' private thoughts and emotions. Asking too many questions may be just as hazardous as asking too few. The delicate art of timing requires that the physician “listen with his third ear,” and know his patient, the family, and himself. The experience of psychoanalysts can be of considerable help to physicians in helping them to recognize and use important cues in the patient's history and conversation that can be relevant to understanding and treating problems encountered in medical practice.