Listening Skills

Empathic Listening

• Other-directed
• Non-defensive
• Imagine roles, perspectives, and experiences of others
• Listen as receiver, not critic
• Listen to understand, not to achieve agreement

Skills for Empathic Listening

• Attending, acknowledging
• Restating, paraphrasing
• Reflecting
• Summarizing, synthesizing
• Interpreting

Skills for Empathic Listening

• Probing
• Giving feedback
• Supporting
• Checking perceptions
• Being silent

LISTEN :: SILENT

Our Focus

• Attending behavior
• Use of questions
• Observations
• Encouraging, paraphrasing, and summarizing
• Reflecting

Basics of Attending

• Visual/eye contact
• Vocal qualities
• Verbal tracking
• Body language

How to Use Questions

• Use to start the conversation and to elaborate or clarify the careseeker's story
• Emphasize open-ended questions
• Do not bombard with questions or ask too many at once
• Do not shy away from sensitive subjects.
• Avoid leading questions.
• Minimize WHY questions.

Listening DOs

• Be okay with silence.
• Be willing to admit "I don't know."
• "Normal reaction to abnormal situation."

Listening DON'Ts

• "I know what you're going through."
• "Everything is going to be alright."
• "You did the best you could."