As professionals, we need to remember that patients are individuals with their own perceptions, worries, and anxieties regarding the diagnostic process and what their illness means to them and their loved ones; what strategies they use for coping; what resources are available for their use; and what other knowledge they have about themselves. As healthcare providers and patient advocates, we must be willing to extend ourselves to understand each patient’s culture, background, and health literacy level in order to identify with the patient’s point of view as much as possible and to show empathy. Once we reach that point, we can then begin to understand and communicate with each other at the levels necessary for a therapeutic relationship to occur.