The Skills of Active Listening

1. Duba, 2008 The Skills of Active Listening Ivey & Ivey, 2007

2. Functions of Active Listening Skills Clients need to know that they are being heard, that the points of view are being seen, and that their world as they experience it is being felt. The skills allow for the following: • Clarification for what client has said • Clarification for interviewer as to what client said • Encouragement of the client to talk more in detail • Helping an overly talkative client stop repeating the same facts/story Duba, 2008

3. Active Listening • Full participation by helping the client enlarge and enrich the story • Hearing small changes in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors • Empathetic understanding including the following skills: 1) Open and closed questions 2) Client observation skills 3) Encouraging 4) Paraphrasing 5) Summarizing 6) Reflection of feeling Duba, 2008

4. Attending Behavior: 3 Vs + B • Visual/eye contact • Vocal qualities • Verbal tracking • Attentive and authentic body language Duba, 2008

5. Seeking Clarification: Functions of Questions • Encourage and discourages client talk • Brings out additional specifics of the client’s world and enriches his/her story • Makes an effective assessment of the client’s concern • Guides manner in which client talks • Helps to open or close client talk according to needs of client Duba, 2008

6. Encouraging • Head Nods • Open Gestures • Positive Facial expressions • Repetition of key words • “Angry.” “Never anyone else.” • Repeating Client’s phrases or words in a comment or questioning voice • “You got furious at her.” • “It never ends.” • Color changes in face • Inappropriate smiles • Breathing Duba, 2008

7. Paraphrasing • Sentence Stem • “I hear you saying …” • “It sounds like …” • Key Words • “So your sister really ‘frustrates’ you. She doesn’t ‘believe’ in you.” • Essence of What The Client Has Said • CL: “My boss never seems to see how i perform on the job, and my husband, he never pays attention to what I actually do around the house.” • CO: “So it seems as if you work really hard at home and at work, but no one seems to notice or care.” • Check-out • “So, am I hearing you correctly?” • “Let’s see if I have this right. You are really feeling angry and also sad.” Duba, 2008

8. Summarizing • Timing • May cover an entire interview • May begin a session • May be used during the middle of an interview • May include both verbal and nonverbal observations and comments made by the client during the session or during a few sessions Duba, 2008

9. Reflecting of Feeling • This skill results in the following: • The richness of the client’s emotional world • Helps clients sort through their mixed or ambivalent feelings toward significant others and events • Grounds the counselor and client in basic experience (instead of intellectualizing) Duba, 2008

10. Active Listening and Diversity • Rapport may be the sole focus with clients who are culturally different from you • North American and European counselors may want to move quickly to problem focus • Some clients may want to spend time getting to know you (i.e., Native American Indians, Pacific Islanders, Aboriginal Australians, New Zealand Maori) • Some clients may seek direction and advice (Cambodian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian) • Young adults and children may expect reactions from you throughout their story • Discuss differences from the start of the counseling process (race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation) Duba, 2008