Communication in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Communication Theory

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3 Main Aspects of Communication (DeVito, 2016):

Sender – Person sending message; Presentation of self

Channel – Five senses that are involved in sending and receiving messages

Receiver – Person receiving message; Impression formation

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The communication theory, as summarised above, helps me understand that there are many forms of messages, such as verbal and non-verbal messages, and that each form has varying permanence (DeVito, 2016). Understanding this, I thought about enhancing the way I present information to clients, to enable clients to better understand what happens at various stages of TCM treatment. 

TCM has a unique approach to understanding human health that may greatly differ from the more common biomedical paradigm (Li, 2011). Some concepts may be challenging to be explained verbally, especially when there are Chinese terms involved. The use of varying forms of message, such as diagrams and videos, could potentially help facilitate the communication of more challenging concepts (Garcia-Retamero, Okan & Cokely, 2012). For example, the terminology “cupping therapy” may be foreign to clients who are not familiar with TCM. A picture, see Figure 2, illustrating what cupping therapy is may help clients better understand what the therapy entails.

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