course silence alone might make it feel like a one-way conversation, with the patient talking to an inanimate object. there are many ways to respond that will encourage the patient to feel at ease and share more, instead of turning the conversation to something about myself. a simple way is to name feelings. “you sound frustrated.” i learned that you don’t even need to necessarily name the correct feeling. for example, the patient could respond to that by saying “yes! i do feel frustrated, exactly, here’s why…” or by saying “no, i don’t feel frustrated, i feel depressed, and here’s why…”. another simple way to make sure the patient knows 