The Importance Of Empathic Listening

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Sometimes a person just needs a listening ear. “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply (Covey, n.d.). Turn the radio or television to any news station and you will discover that when a crime is committed, family members and friends didn’t think that the person who committed the crime would harm a fly. Moreover, neighbors in the community usually state that the person seemed to be a nice individual. After the cases are put under the magnifying glass to examine what may have lead the person to commit the crime, we find that the individual was dealing with issues that no one was aware of, they held it inside. These types of responses from family members, neighbors, and friends, is an indication …show more content…

Often times we discover that the person whom we are sharing our feelings with has experienced the same type of situation or may have known someone else who have. If we expect family members and friends to be able to confide in us, we should learn to be empathic listeners. Empathic listening is to understand the speaker’s feelings, needs, and wants so that you can appreciate his or her point of view, regardless of whether you share that perspective (Bovee & Thill, 2016, p. 44). To be an effective listener we have to step away from forming an opinion of what the speaker is saying while they are still speaking, which usually leads to finding some part of the speakers story to refute. I recall a particular phone call conversation my younger brother and I had several months ago. He called and stated that he hadn’t heard from our sister for quite some time and was worried about her so he was wondering if I had heard from her. As I was listening to my brother explain to

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