ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on facilitation tools which help to create a supportive climate for learning and to maximise participation. These are essential elements of any learning leading to skill development or personal change and are therefore of particular importance in experiential communication skills programmes. The chapter addresses how to deal with difficult situations. It relates effective facilitation to effective communication with patients and shows how the same skills and principles form a common foundation for both, and offers a series of concepts, models and strategies that are helpful in developing a supportive environment and maximising participation and learning. The chapter considers strategies for dealing with difficult situations and tensions to advantage. Effective communication is at the root of effective facilitation. In fact, the skills required to communicate effectively with patients are so similar to those required for teaching that the Calgary-Cambridge Guides serve equally well as a summary of both communication and facilitation skills.
