Glossary / Lexicon

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Listener is a foundational skill that helps build the relationship and tells the client the clinician is wanting to learn more about him or her. Good listeners do not interrupt, show interest, do not jump to conclusions, and have good non-verbals.

Listening in the psychology context refers to the active process of receiving, interpreting, and responding to spoken messages. It is an essential skill in communication, pivotal for understanding others, building relationships, and effectively interacting in social contexts.

Description

In psychology, listening is more than just hearing words; it involves understanding the emotions and intentions behind the information being communicated. Active listening, a specific type of listening skill, emphasizes full engagement with the speaker, including nonverbal communication cues like eye contact and nodding, and verbal signals such as paraphrasing and asking questions for clarity.

Application Areas

Listening is a critical component across various domains of psychology:

• Clinical Psychology: Therapists use active listening to better understand clients' feelings and thoughts, which helps in diagnosing and treating psychological disorders.
• Counseling: Effective listening skills are essential for counselors to support their clients through personal issues, career doubts, educational concerns, and more.
• Social Psychology: Studies how individuals communicate within groups and the role of listening in social interactions and relationships.
• Educational Psychology: Teachers and educational therapists use listening to assess the needs of students and to facilitate a supportive learning environment.

Well-Known Examples

Examples of listening in psychological practice include:

• Rogerian Therapy: Developed by Carl Rogers, this therapeutic approach is based on the therapist offering unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding, and genuineness, largely through effective listening.
• Motivational Interviewing: This technique relies on listening to help individuals resolve ambivalent feelings and insecurities to find the motivation they need to change their behavior.

Treatment and Risks

Effective listening can significantly improve therapeutic outcomes, as it helps clients feel understood and supported. However, poor listening skills can lead to misunderstandings, reduced client trust, and ineffective therapy. In educational settings, teachers who fail to listen to their students might not address their educational needs, impacting learning outcomes.

Similar Terms

Related concepts include "empathic listening", which refers to listening with the intent to understand a person's frame of reference and feelings, and "reflective listening", which involves reflecting back the content and feelings of a speaker's message to confirm understanding of the message.

Articles with 'Listening' in the title

• Active Listening: Active Listening refers to feature of client-centered therapy that involves empathetic listening, by which the therapist echoes, restates, and clarifies what the client says
• Attitudinal Listening Profile: Attitudinal Listening Profile refers to a test developed by Geier and Downey that measures individual listening styles. A listening style in psychology refers to an individual's preferred approach or method of listening to others
• Dichotic listening task: Dichotic listening task refers to an experimental procedure in which a person wears earphones that present different words to the two (2) ears at the same time and the person tries to say either or both words- an experimental task in which . . .
• Empathetic Listening: Empathetic Listening: Empathetic listening in the psychology context refers to a way of listening and responding to another person that expresses empathy and understanding
• Inclusive listening: Inclusive listening refers to the listening style of a person who cares about only the main points of a communication. Inclusive listening is a type of active listening in which the listener strives to understand and consider the perspectiv . . .
• Leisure listening: Leisure listening is defined as the listening style of a person who cares about only interesting information. In psychology, "leisure listening" refers to the act of listening to music purely for enjoyment or entertainment purposes, rather . . .
• Nonconforming listening: Nonconforming listening refers to the listening style of a person who cares about only information that is consistent with his or her way of thinking. Nonconforming listening, also known as counterconventional listening, is a type of listen . . .
• Stylistic listening: Stylistic listening refers to the listening style of a person who pays Attention mainly to the way in which words are spoken. In psychology, stylistic listening refers to the act of listening to music for its style and form rather than its . . .
• Nondefensive listening: Nondefensive listening refers to a listening strategy in which the listener focuses Attention on what his or her partner is saying without being defensive
• Active listening: Active listening refers to a communication and listening technique in which the listener uses non-verbal communication, such as nodding or eye contact, to signal that he or she is attentive to the speaker

Summary

Listening in psychology is a foundational skill for effective communication. It involves actively interpreting and responding to both the content and emotional undertones of what is being communicated. In therapeutic, educational, and social settings, proficient listening is vital for understanding and effectively responding to others, facilitating better personal and professional relationships.

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