This presentation contains infoprm

1. Techniques for Empathetic
Listening
Rev. David Eisenmenger, MAMFT
Director of Education, Research and Programming
Signature HealthCARE, LLC
Spirituality Pillar

2. Our Lives are Spent
Communicating
• Study conducted
across a variety of
occupations
• Up to 70% of waking
time spent
communicating
Everything
else
Communicating

3. How Much Time Do You
Spend?
• Up to 70% of waking
time spent
communicating
• Nearly 45% of
communication time
spent listening
• Conclusion: Listening is
a key component to
every aspect of our
lives
Communicating
All other
communicating
Listening

4. Hearing vs. Listening
Hearing
• A physiological sensory process by which
sensations are received by the ears and
transmitted to the brain
Listening
• A psychological procedure involving interpreting
and understanding the significance of the sensory
process

5. Listen: An Etymology
Derived from two Old English words:
Hlystan, “hearing”
Hlosnian, “to wait in suspense”

6. Attending

7. Attending Behaviors have four
components
• Eye contact
• Body language
• Vocal qualities
• Verbal tracking

8. Eye Contact
• Get on the same level as the people you are
speaking with
• Give enough eye contact…but not too much
• Most patients:
– Will be comfortable with more eye contact when you’re
talking
– Less eye contact when they’re talking—but this can vary
• Cultures vary greatly in what is considered
appropriate eye contact

9. Body Language
• Positive body language
• Leaning slightly toward the patient
• Maintaining a relaxed but attentive posture
• Mirroring

10. Body Language: Mirroring
• Matching the patient’s facial expression
and body posture

11. Vocal Qualities
• Refers to the tone and inflections of your
voice
– Not the content of what you say, but how you
say it
• For example: Pacing
– Moving slightly toward matching the patient’s
vocal qualities
• You can also use your vocal qualities to lead
the patient

12. Verbal Tracking
• Using your words to demonstrate accurate
following
• Includes restating or summarizing

13. Too much of a good thing
• Positive attending behaviors can become
negative or annoying if you use them too
much
• Staring
• Leaning in
• Over tracking

14. Negative Attending Behaviors
• Infrequent eye contact
• Turning away from the patient
• Leaning back from the waist up
• Crossing your legs away from the patient
• Folding your arms

15. Individual and Cultural
Differences
• Every patient is unique
• Listening behaviors to accommodate
individuals

16. Following

17. Following Skills
• Door openers
– Open-ended questions
– Going up at the end of your sentence
• Minimal encouragers
• Infrequent questions
• Attentive silence

18. Door Openers
• Open ended
questions
• “Going up” on the end
of your sentences

19. Minimal Encourage
• Small words
– Convey that you are listening
– Offers an implied invitation to continue talking

20. Infrequent questions
• Less is more

21. Attentive Silence
• Sitting with the patient in the midst of
silence

22. Reflecting

23. Paraphrasing
• Summarize, repackage and return what
you hear
• Reflect the content
• Reflect the feelings

24. The Feeling Wheel
• Primary Emotion
• Secondary Emotion
• Tertiary Emotion

25. Listening for Feelings
Primary Emotions
• Sad
• Mad
• Scared
• Peaceful
• Powerful
• Joyful

26. Secondary Emotions
• Tertiary Emotion:
Relaxed
• Verbalization: “You
have such a
relaxing voice.”
• Secondary
Emotion: Content
• Primary Emotion:
Peaceful

27. Tertiary Emotions
• Tertiary Emotion:
Embarrassed
• Verbalization: “I
cant’ believe I did
that. What an
embarrassment.”
• Secondary
Emotion: Insecure
• Core Emotion:
Scared

29. Resources
• Bolton, R. (1979). People skills. New York, NY: Simon
• Ivey, A., et al (1997). Basic attending skills. North Amherst,
MA: Microtraining Associates
• Lanier, S. A. (2000). Foreign to familiar: a guide to
understanding hot- and cold-climate cultures. Hagerstown,
MD: McDougal Pub.
• Lipson, J. G., Minarik, P. A., & Dibble, S. L. (1996). Culture &
nursing care: a pocket guide. San Francisco: UCSF Nursing
Press.
• Wilcox, G. (Array). Feeling Wheel [ PDF ]. Retrieved from
http://med.emory.edu/excel/documents/Feeling Wheel.pdf