RT Book, Section A1 Hemmesch, Amanda R. A1 Gunnery, Sarah D. A1 Tickle-Degnen, Linda A2 Schwartz, Rachel A2 Hall, Judith A. A2 Osterberg, Lars G. SR Print(0) ID 1182526913 T1 Interacting Effectively with Individuals with Reduced Facial Expressivity T2 Emotion in the Clinical Encounter YR 2021 FD 2021 PB McGraw Hill PP New York, NY SN 9781260464320 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1182526913 RD 2024/03/28 AB Effective clinical interaction with patients and clients draws upon the same cues and skills necessary for successful interaction in daily life. However, interacting with individuals with health conditions that reduce facial expressivity (such as facial paralysis, autism, cerebral palsy, or Parkinson’s disease) requires additional skill and awareness because typical heuristics may lead to mistakes reading emotions when interacting with these individuals. This chapter will introduce important concepts related to person perception that can inform effective clinical interactions with individuals with reduced emotional expressivity, particularly in the face, with a focus on biases that may arise when interacting with individuals with expressive conditions and strategies to address those biases. In the words of biologist Adams A. Wilkins: “The human face is highly distinctive not only in its set of physical features compared to our animal cousins, but also in being the most expressive face of any creature on Earth, and as such it plays a crucial part in our social existence.”1 The clinical encounter is a specialized social interaction that is of great importance to personal and population health. The information in this chapter not only pertains to interactions with clients with reduced facial expressiveness. It is also useful during clinical encounters with clients without expressive disorders because people tend to use the same heuristics when interacting with a variety of other people. Regardless of whether the client has a health condition that affects facial expressivity, clinicians must be cognizant of the critical role the face plays in the effectiveness of clinical decision making and the outcomes of the encounter.