The social, cultural and linguistic diversity of the Northern Territory creates a rich and complex context for communication. This diversity is a challenge for interpersonal communication which often creates barriers for Aboriginal people who are seeking psychological help. Therefore, culturally sensitive methods are important when seeking to provide effective psychological help to First Nations clients. Clinical yarning is one technique designed to improve clinician-patient communication.

Yarning

Yarning is a culturally important way of communicating for Aboriginal people.  It helps build connection and is used for information exchange, and storytelling.

Clinical Yarning

Clinical yarning is a culturally appropriate approach. It is used in healthcare consultations with Aboriginal patients and helps foster rapport and trust. It uses a relaxed, conversational style. Storytelling is valued as a way to understand a patient’s health in the context of their life. The process has three main parts: the social yarn, the diagnostic yarn, and the management yarn.

The Social Yarn

The social yarn is the first phase of a clinical yarn with Aboriginal patients, though it may occur at any point. This conversational phase is essential for building connection, trust, and relatedness, enabling deeper discussions later. Practitioners use the social yarn to find common ground, often discussing topics like sports, family, weather, seasonal factors, or culturally significant aspects such as local country and kinship ties.

The Diagnostic Yarn

The diagnostic yarn approach involves guiding conversations towards the patient’s own story about their health. This method is open-ended, flowing, and based on storytelling, creating a comfortable, two-way dialogue. Practitioners use techniques such as open-ended questions, non-judgmental listening, and allowing silences to give patients time to reflect. The diagnostic yarn remains patient-led but requires practitioners to balance allowing the story to unfold with interpreting the information through a biomedical perspective, ultimately steering the conversation to gather the necessary details for diagnosis.

The Management Yarn

The management yarn is a collaborative, patient-led approach to healthcare that fosters patient engagement by enhancing their understanding of their health condition. Practitioners begin by exploring what the patient already knows, then have open and honest discussions—often involving family—about the condition and develop a mutually agreed-upon management plan. Misunderstandings are clarified, and medical information is translated into clear, jargon-free language. Storytelling, metaphors, visuals, and culturally appropriate resources are used to make information relatable.

For more information on Clinical Yarning visit https://www.clinicalyarning.org.au/

At Big Sky Psychology we seek to provide excellent care for First Nations clients. We have two First Nations psychologists and all clinicians have done cultural training.

This blog on Clinical Yarning has been adapted from ‘Yarn with me’: applying clinical yarning to improve
clinician–patient communication in Aboriginal health care. by Ivan Lin, Charmaine Green and Dawn Bessarab which was published in the Australian Journal of Primary Health, 2016, 22, 377-382. The full article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/PY16051