Listening Skills Professionals Listen Empathically -3

Listening Skills Professional -3

This page, page 3, of this three-page website on listening skills professionals contains the following sections:

Listening Skills Professionals versus Psychotherapists
Unnecessary Suffering
Links to the Table of Contents for this Entire Website
Links to Some of My Other Websites on Empathy and Listening Skills

To see the home page, page 1, click on Listening Skills Professionals Listen Empathically - 1.

Listening Skills Professionals Versus Psychotherapists oooooooo

At this point, it may be informative to clarify further what I mean by the "profession of empathic listener", which I will do by comparing this profession with that of psychotherapist.

If I were to consult a psychotherapist his goal would be to help me feel and function better. My listening skills professional's goal would be to do a good job of empathic listening whereas my goal would be to use his empathic listening to help me feel and function better.

The listening skills professional performs his service by combining his listening skills with his empathy. An important aspect of empathic listening is the listener occasionally saying back to the person talking his comprehension of what is being communicated.

Most psychotherapists also use a combination of listening skills and empathy but add other techniques, such as:

encouraging a client to try a new behavior
explaining to a client why she behaved in a self-defeating manner
helping a client become aware of her feelings

By contrast, the listening skills professional would limit his activities to empathic listening.

TO TABLE OF CONTENTS LINKS

Unnecessary Suffering oooooooo

This section presents some of my beliefs, which stem from my diagnostic and psychotherapeutic discussions with clients and from my discussions/conversations with people who were not clients. I call them "beliefs" because they derive more from my experiences than from my reading of research studies.

The non-existence of listening skills professionals is a national misfortune. This opinion of mine derives from my beliefs that:

the anticipation of the embarrassment, shame, self-devaluation and/or financial drain from consulting a psychotherapist prevents many people from seeking help for their emotional distress.

many people could achieve some relief from their emotional distress by consulting an empathic listener.

if society established the profession of empathic listener, some distressed people who would not consult a psychotherapist would consult an empathic listener and thereby possibly stop or reduce their suffering.

To go to the home page, page 1, click here.

TO TOP

Table of Contents oooooooo

More Information: If you want examples of using empathy and listening skills, visit one or more of my websites described at the bottom of this page. They also explain the benefits of being listened to empathically.

If you liked this site, e-mailing me your thanks will reward me for creating it and help sustain my motivation to keep it going for future visitors.

Some of My Other Websites on Empathy and Listening Skills

Empathy, Listening Skills, and Relationships is a six-page website which includes information about the use of empathy and listening skills to foster good relationships, emotional intimacy, and happy marriages.

Empathy, Listening Skills, and Intimacy is an expanded version of the six-page website.

Listening Skills and Relationships is a discussion board which includes messages from me and my responses to messages from others. To read or post messages, you do not have to register. Visit the board to read questions and answers, ask or answer questions, share experiences, etc.