This episode explores how cognitive dissonance — the tension we feel when our beliefs collide with reality — plays a crucial role in helping children and parents move toward healthier choices. Although being contradicted feels threatening, this discomfort is often the first step toward meaningful change.

We cover:

• Why being corrected triggers an instinctive defensive response
• How the strength of a person’s conviction affects their openness to new ideas
• What classic research reveals about who is most willing to consider alternative viewpoints
• How parents and children bring their own (sometimes incorrect) illness beliefs into the consultation
• Why challenging misconceptions requires trust, safety, and emotional intelligence
• How cognitive dissonance becomes a tool for empowering families to participate in treatment

Key takeaway:

One step toward change is through cognitive dissonance. When handled with empathy and trust, this discomfort helps pediatric patients and parents shift from fixed assumptions to genuine partnership in care.

Tune in for a thoughtful look at how to use dissonance not as confrontation, but as a catalyst for cooperation.

This episode explores why persuasive communication is essential for initiating change in pediatric care. Every treatment requires some form of behavioural shift — starting something new, stopping something harmful, or sustaining a new routine. Yet most patients remain passive recipients rather than active partners, leading to poor long‑term adherence. Persuasive communication helps shift that dynamic.

We cover:

• What persuasive communication really means in a medical context
• Why every treatment plan requires behavioural change
• The “drag of the old” and why new routines are so hard to sustain
• Why long‑term adherence often drops to 30%
• How traditional doctor–patient dynamics keep families passive
• The importance of empowering children and parents as problem‑solving partners
• Why doctors must shift from “fixing” to co‑creating strategies

Key takeaway:

Persuasive communication is the core tool for initiating meaningful, lasting change. When we empower families to understand, participate, and take ownership, we transform them from helpless recipients into capable partners.

Tune in for a practical, mindset‑shifting look at how real change begins.

This episode explores why change is an unavoidable part of every medical encounter — and why long‑term adherence to treatment plans is often so poor. Patients come to us because something in their health has shifted, yet we frequently treat them as passive recipients of the changes we prescribe. Sustainable change requires partnership, not imposition.

We cover:

• Why every treatment requires change in habits, routines, or behaviour
• How doctors often expect patients to change without involving them in the process
• Why long‑term adherence can drop to 30% when plans aren’t co‑created
• The gap between the ideal world of shared decision‑making and real‑world time pressure
• Why parents often ask “What would you do?” out of fear and uncertainty
• How imposed plans become our plans, not their plans

Key takeaway:

Change is inevitable in healthcare — but lasting change only happens when children and parents understand, accept, and co‑create the plan. In upcoming episodes, we’ll explore two essential foundations of change‑management: persuasive communication and cognitive dissonance.

Tune in for a thoughtful look at how to make change feel possible, shared, and sustainable.

You can find this content also in my blog: https://wp.me/pfxEk2-8Y

Music by Sascha Ende via ende.app

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This episode explores why communication in paediatric care so often breaks down — not because doctors don’t explain enough, but because real‑world communication is full of mental “background noise.” While the ideal scenario assumes perfect listening and perfect understanding, the reality is far more complex. Parents and children arrive with their own storylines, worries, and assumptions, all of which distort how information is received.

We cover:

• The gap between ideal communication and real‑world communication
• Why information gets lost, distorted, or misunderstood
• How parents and children bring separate inner storylines into the consultation
• The impact of fear, distraction, and assumptions on comprehension
• Why doctors must compete with the “voice within” — without raising their own
• The need to understand predictable thought patterns to communicate effectively

Key takeaway:

Our current communication habits often fail because they ignore the mental background noise patients and parents bring into the room. To move closer to effective communication, we must understand — and work with — their inner storylines.

Tune in for a clear, practical look at why communication breaks and how to bridge the gap.

You can find this content also in my blog: https://wp.me/pfxEk2-8T

Music from Sascha Ende via ende.app

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This episode explores why communication between doctors and patients so often fails — even when clinicians believe they’ve explained everything clearly. Research shows that most medical information is forgotten immediately, much of what remains is remembered incorrectly, and long‑term adherence can drop as low as 30%. The problem isn’t that we don’t talk enough. It’s that we talk in ways patients cannot absorb.

We cover:

• Why 50–80% of medical information is forgotten right away
• How giving more information actually reduces understanding
• Why nearly half of remembered information is recalled incorrectly
• The emotional and cognitive overload that disrupts communication
• Why clinicians often end up exhausted while patients end up confused
• The shift from “talking more” to “talking better”

Key takeaway:

Effective communication isn’t about volume — it’s about clarity. When we speak in a way patients can truly receive, we replace confusion with understanding and build the foundation for cooperation.

Tune in for a practical, eye‑opening look at how to make communication work.

You can find this content also in my blog: https://wp.me/pfxEk2-8R

Music by Sascha Ende via ende.app

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This episode explores why communication isn’t just part of a doctor’s job — it is the job. Every interaction in healthcare depends on sending and receiving information clearly, compassionately, and in a way patients can actually understand. And because fear, stress, and cognitive differences shape how information is received, clinicians must adapt their communication, not expect patients to adapt to them.

We cover:

• Why communication is the core task of every doctor, regardless of speciality
• How every behaviour — tone, posture, silence, distance — communicates something
• Why fear, stress, and unfamiliar environments make comprehension difficult
• How language barriers and cognitive differences widen the communication gap
• Why “speaking more Martian” doesn’t help when patients don’t understand
• The clinician’s responsibility to create shared ground for communication

Key takeaway:

Communication is everything. When we adjust our language, pace, and behaviour to the needs of children and parents, we transform confusion into clarity — and fear into cooperation.

Tune in for a grounded, practical look at the heart of every clinical encounter.

You can find this content also in my blog: https://wp.me/pfxEk2-8O

Music by Sascha Ende via ende.app

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This episode explores a rarely discussed truth in healthcare: doctors and patients often operate with very different cognitive resources. With physicians statistically averaging an IQ around 127 — the top 5% — and patients navigating fear, stress, and unfamiliar environments, communication gaps are inevitable unless clinicians intentionally bridge them.

We cover:

• Why doctors often underestimate the cognitive gap between themselves and patients
• How fear and hospital stress drastically reduce parents’ and children’s ability to process information
• Why intelligence is a given tool, not an achievement
• The reality that 80% of medical information is forgotten immediately
• Why the responsibility to adjust communication lies with clinicians
• The guiding principle: if a three‑year‑old can understand it, the parents will too

Key takeaway:

Our intelligence isn’t something to be proud of — it’s something to use. When we translate complex concepts into simple, accessible language, we create clarity, trust, and genuine partnership in care.

Tune in for a grounded, compassionate look at how smarter communication leads to safer, calmer encounters.

You can find this content also in my blog: https://wp.me/pfxEk2-8V

Music by Sascha Ende via ende.app

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This episode explores how eye‑contact shapes safety, connection, and cooperation in paediatric care. Being seen is a fundamental human need — yet eye‑contact can comfort, overwhelm, or even threaten, depending on how it’s used. Children feel this, especially strongly, particularly when they are sick or vulnerable.

We cover:

• Why being seen matters for both children and adults
• The balance between too little and too much eye‑contact
• A personal story illustrating the power of being met at eye level
• How eye‑contact communicates intimacy, control, and attention
• Why direct gazes can feel threatening, especially to children
• How illness heightens sensitivity to being watched or judged

Key takeaway:

Eye‑contact is powerful. Used with care, it creates connection and safety. Used without awareness, it can trigger fear or shame — especially in children who already feel exposed.

Tune in for a thoughtful look at how to use eye‑contact wisely in paediatric encounters.

You can find this content also in my blog: https://wp.me/pfxEk2-8o

Music by Sascha Ende via ende.app

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This episode explores how height shapes safety, trust, and cooperation in pediatric care. Being looked down upon is not just symbolic — it triggers a primal fear response. For children, who are physically smaller and already vulnerable, an adult towering above them can feel overwhelming and threatening, especially in a hospital setting.

We cover:

• Why being looked down upon activates fear and reduces cooperation
• How height creates subconscious power imbalances
• Why adults standing over children send intimidating signals
• How hospitals amplify this height‑based fear
• Why approaching a child from above feels like “predator behaviour” to their nervous system
• The transformative power of squatting down to meet children at eye level

Key takeaway:

Height matters. When we crouch to meet children at eye level, we dissolve intimidation, build connection, and create the safety needed for genuine cooperation.

Tune in for a simple but powerful shift that changes the entire encounter.

You can find this content also in my blog: https://wp.me/pfxEk2-86

Music by Sascha Ende via ende.app

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In this episode, we explore why physical distance is one of the most powerful — and most overlooked — elements of non‑verbal communication in pediatric care. Drawing on insights from animal behaviour and human neuroscience, we unpack how proximity shapes safety, fear, and cooperation.

We cover:

• Why distance determines behaviour in both animals and humans
• How “flight distance” and “critical distance” shape first encounters
• Why children need even more space due to size and vulnerability
• How strangers often invade children’s space unintentionally
• What happens when personal space is crossed too soon
• Why forced proximity triggers fear and destroys cooperation

Key takeaway:

If we enter a child’s personal space without permission, their brain interprets it as a threat. Respecting distance is the first step toward trust — and the foundation for every successful pediatric encounter.

Tune in for a clear, practical look at how distance shapes safety.

You can find this content also my my blog: https://wp.me/pfxEk2-7W

Music by Sascha Ende via ende.app

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