Skip to main content
ADCES 2026 Annual Conference Main banner

Psychosocial / Behavioral Health

(F10) Words Are Medicine: Therapeutic Communication and Storytelling for Patient Empowerment

Friday, August 7, 2026
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM ET
CE: .75 CE
This interactive session explores how therapeutic communication, person-centered language, and storytelling can strengthen trust and engagement in diabetes care. It highlights how the words used by healthcare professionals influence patient experience and outcomes and demonstrates ways to coach colleagues to use more strength-based, person-centered language. The session also shares practical ways humor and storytelling can be used in education and care settings to reduce stress, improve retention, and support healthier coping and diabetes self-management.

Learning Objectives:

At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to:
  • Apply therapeutic communication strategies to improve engagement, trust, and healthy coping in diabetes self-management education.
  • Demonstrate how to use person-centered, strength-based language when coaching HCPs who may not be aware of its impact on patient care and outcomes.
  • Identify appropriate ways to incorporate humor and stories into healthcare modules to reduce stress, increase retention and enhance behavior change.