Milestone map
Milestone map
3 milestones
Learn and demonstrate core therapeutic communication techniques
2–3 weeks
Study the core therapeutic communication techniques used in your clinical setting: active listening (SOLER framework or equivalent), open questioning, reflecting and summarising, empathy expression, normalisation, psychoeducation delivery, and managing distress in a clinical communication context. Under supervision of a registered clinical professional with therapeutic communication training (registered nurse, allied health professional, or mental health worker), demonstrate each technique in a structured role-play session. Your supervisor must observe and provide written feedback on each technique.
Proof required
Submit a structured practice record listing each technique demonstrated, your supervisor's written feedback on each (confirming you demonstrated it and naming a strength and development point), and your own 1-page reflection on which technique you found most challenging.
What gets checked
- All seven techniques are included in the practice record — omitting psychoeducation delivery or normalisation is a common shortcut.
- Supervisor feedback is specific to each technique — 'good communication skills overall' is not technique-specific feedback.
- Reflection identifies a specific challenge and the reason for it — 'empathy was hard' is not specific; 'I found reflecting difficult when the patient expressed anger because I felt an impulse to reassure rather than reflect' is.
Common mistakes
- Supervisor without therapeutic communication training or clinical background — a peer student who has read about therapeutic communication cannot assess this milestone.
- Role-play that is script-based rather than unscripted — the techniques must be applied to unpredictable dialogue.
- Practice record that lists techniques without supervisor feedback on each.
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- Ask the student to demonstrate a reflecting technique in conversation — tests whether it's genuinely learned or just described.
- Check that supervisor feedback is specific to each technique.
- Ask which technique the student found hardest and why — the reflection should align with this.
Document 5 supervised therapeutic communication encounters
4–8 weeks (dependent on clinical placement)
Under direct supervision of a registered clinical professional with therapeutic communication training, conduct and document 5 real clinical therapeutic communication encounters with consenting patients. Each encounter must involve at least one challenging communication element (emotional distress, language barrier, reluctance to engage, disclosing sensitive information, or equivalent). For each encounter, document: the clinical context, the communication challenge encountered, the technique applied, what was effective, and your supervisor's sign-off. All patient data must be fully anonymised.
Proof required
Submit your logbook with 5 anonymised entries, each countersigned by the supervising registered professional. Each entry must document a specific communication challenge and the technique applied.
What gets checked
- Each entry documents a specific communication challenge — not 'standard history taking with a cooperative patient'.
- All 5 entries are countersigned by a registered clinical professional.
- Patient identifiers are fully anonymised — no names, dates of birth, ward or clinic names that could identify the patient.
Common mistakes
- Logbook entries without a documented communication challenge — all 5 encounters must involve challenge.
- Supervisor countersignature missing from one or more entries.
- Patient data not fully anonymised.
Resources
Foundationstart here
What a verifier looks for
- Ask the student to describe the most difficult communication challenge they encountered across the 5 sessions.
- Check that all 5 entries include a documented communication challenge — not routine encounters.
- Verify full anonymisation across all entries.
Complete a formal therapeutic communication competency assessment
1–2 weeks
Complete a formal therapeutic communication competency assessment — a recorded OSCE station, a structured observed encounter using an assessment tool used by your training programme, or an equivalent formal assessed session observed by a qualified clinical assessor with therapeutic communication training. The assessment must involve a real or simulated patient scenario with a specific communication challenge. Receive written feedback using a structured assessment tool. Produce a self-assessment and a comparison with the assessor's feedback.
Proof required
Submit the completed assessment form, the assessor's written feedback, your 1-page self-assessment, and a comparison paragraph identifying where you agreed and disagreed with the assessor's evaluation and why.
What gets checked
- Assessment uses a structured tool — narrative feedback only without a structured marking framework does not constitute a formal assessment.
- Assessor has therapeutic communication training and is a registered clinical professional.
- Comparison paragraph is substantive — if you agreed with all feedback, explain why, not just 'the feedback was accurate'.
Common mistakes
- Assessor without therapeutic communication training or clinical registration.
- Assessment without a structured tool — the milestones requires structured marking.
- Comparison paragraph that agrees with everything without genuine reflection.
Resources
Foundationstart here
What a verifier looks for
- Confirm the assessment used a structured marking tool.
- Verify the assessor is a registered clinical professional with therapeutic communication training.
- Ask the student to identify one specific communication skill they will deliberately practise after this assessment.