The Importance Of Empathetic Listening

Empathetic Listening Empathic listening, also called active listening or reflective listening, is a way of listening and responding to another person that improves mutual understanding and trust (Salem, 2003). Empathetic listening is perhaps the most challenging form of listening. In order to be an effect empathetic listener you must acquire two main skills: perspective taking, which is the ability to understand a situation from another individual’s point of view; and empathetic concern, which is the ability to identify how someone else is feeling and then experience those feelings yourself (Floyd, 2011). There are three main guidelines to becoming a better empathetic listener. I will be discussing one of these main guidelines in this paper which is to listen nonjudgmentally This guideline is extremely important in order to improve and maintain interpersonal relationships. I will be giving
I was trying to communicate my trust with her about disclosing personal information that nobody but Alex and myself were aware of. I believe Joslyn assumed the worst of what I say saying and believed I was not being honest with her which led to mistrust and miscommunication. I believe if the event discussed would have happened in an alternate environment that the outcome would have been completely different. If I were to discuss this information with her before Alex blurted it out unexpectedly, I would have earned her trust and respect. Instead, I lost it. If this would have been the situation I believe my interpersonal goal of gaining Joslyn’s trust would have been met. The guideline of listening nonjudgmentally is ultimately one of the most important aspects of being a better empathetic listener in my opinion. If followed, it paves the way for a relationship full of trust and acceptance. We see this guideline being violated far to often in the world we live in