SKILLS OF ACTIVE LISTENING

Microskills Hierarchy Encouraging, paraphrasing, and summarizing Client observation skills Open and closed questions Attending behavior Ethics and multicultural competence

Active Listening Walk in other person’s shoes Allow helpee to feel heard Helper does not add ideas; says back to helpees what you have heard using their key words

Encouragers Verbal and nonverbal means to indicate to helpee to keep talking Head nods “Uh-huh”

Paraphrasing Feeds back to helpee essence of what has just been said Helps clarify Is not parroting “Sounds like . . .”

Summarizations Similar to paraphrases but covers more content Can be used at beginning and end of session Helps organize what is happening in interview

Non-Judgmental Attitude Listening to helpee without imposing your own value system Suspending (not dispensing with) one’s own judgment Hear and accept what helpees are saying in their stories Visuals, vocals, verbal following and body language need to be congruent with nonjudgmental stance Allows helpee a safe place to explore without which no change is possible

Reflection of Feeling Names or feeds back the emotional tone of the conversation or story to the helpee. Similar to a paraphrase but focus is on emotion rather than content or facts of story A “feelings word” vocabulary is important

Diversity Issues May use listening skills more to establish trust If used exclusively, helpee may become suspicious; self-disclose Gender differences: Females more paraphrasing, etc. Males more questions