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Reflective Listening

Reflective listening is a communication strategy used in counseling to understand the speaker's perspective. It involves seeking to understand the speaker's idea and reflecting it back to confirm understanding. Key aspects include focusing on the speaker, embracing their perspective without judgment, mirroring their emotional state, summarizing their ideas in their own words, and responding to their specific points without digressing. Reflective listening aims to encourage open communication in a therapeutic setting.

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321 views

Reflective Listening

Reflective listening is a communication strategy used in counseling to understand the speaker's perspective. It involves seeking to understand the speaker's idea and reflecting it back to confirm understanding. Key aspects include focusing on the speaker, embracing their perspective without judgment, mirroring their emotional state, summarizing their ideas in their own words, and responding to their specific points without digressing. Reflective listening aims to encourage open communication in a therapeutic setting.

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Jonathan
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Reflective listening
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Reflective listening is a communication strategy involving two key steps: seeking
to understand a speaker's idea, then offering the idea back to the speaker, to
confirm the idea has been understood correctly. It attempts to "reconstruct what
the client is thinking and feeling and to relay this understanding back to the
client". Reflective listening is a more specific strategy than the more general
methods of active listening. It arose from Carl Rogers' school of client-centered
therapy in counseling theory.[1] Empathy is at the center of Rogers' approach.[2]

Dalmar Fisher, an associate professor at Boston College, developed a model for


Reflective Listening that includes the following elements:[3]

Focusing upon the conversation by reducing or eliminating any kind of distraction.


[citation needed]
Genuinely embracing the speaker's perspective without necessarily agreeing with it.
By engaging in a non-judgmental and empathetic approach, listeners encourage the
others to speak freely.[citation needed]
Mirroring the mood of the speaker, reflecting the emotional state with words and
nonverbal communication. This requires the listener to quiet his mind and focus
fully upon the mood of the speaker. This mood will become apparent not just in the
words used but in the tone of voice, posture and other nonverbal cues given by the
speaker. The listener will look for congruence between words and mood.[citation
needed]
Summarizing what the speaker said, using the speaker's own words rather than merely
paraphrasing words and phrases, thereby mirroring the essential concept of the
speaker.[citation needed]
Responding to the speaker's specific point, without digressing to other subjects.
[citation needed]
Repeating the procedure for each subject, and switching the roles of speaker and
listener, if necessary.[citation needed]
During the reflective listening approach, both client and therapist embrace the
technique of thoughtful silence, rather than to engage in idle chatter.[4]

Contents
1 Additional application
2 See also
3 References
4 Further reading
5 External links
Additional application
Reflective listening has been found to be effective in a therapeutic setting.
Subjects receiving reflective listening from a counselor have reported better
therapeutic relationship and more disclosure of feelings.[5]

Cognitive content is one of the two main options that a counselor has for
reflecting the client's previous communication in the counseling session.[citation
needed] This form deals with people, places, problems, situations, and things.
[citation needed] Cognitive content can play a role in help with problem solving.
[citation needed] Incorporating cognitive content in problem solving makes it
easier for clients to identify and work through issues. If neither the counselor
nor the client can identify a problem that the client has, there is no need to
problem solve and there is no need for counseling. Similar to problem solving where
one initially identifies the quandary, counseling calls for identification of the
fundamental issue in order to successfully change the client's behaviors or thought
patterns.[6]

See also
Focusing (psychotherapy)
Motivational interviewing
References
Lane, Lara Lynn (2005). "Reflective listening". Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology
Grogan, Jessica. March 11, 2013. It's not enough to listen. In: 'Psychology Today'
Dalmar Fisher, Communication in Organizations (St. Paul, MN, West Publishing
Company, 1993, pp. 430-436)
Sundararajan, Louise (1995). "Echoes after Carl Rogers: "Reflective listening"
revisited". The Humanistic Psychologist. 23 (2): 259�271.
doi:10.1080/08873267.1995.9986828.
Rautalinko, E; Lisper, HO; Ekehammar, B (2007). "Reflective listening in
counseling: Effects of training time and evaluator social skills". American journal
of psychotherapy. 61 (2): 191�209. PMID 17760322.
Heppner, P. Paul; Reeder, B. Lynne; Larson, Lisa M. (1983). "Cognitive variables
associated with personal problem-solving appraisal: Implications for counseling".
Journal of Counseling Psychology. 30 (4): 537�45. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.30.4.537.
Further reading
Arnold, Kyle (2014). "Behind the Mirror: Reflective Listening and its Tain in the
Work of Carl Rogers". The Humanistic Psychologist. 42 (4): 354�369.
doi:10.1080/08873267.2014.913247.
Baker, A. C.; Jensen, P. J.; Kolb, D. A. (1997). "In Conversation: Transforming
Experience into Learning". Simulation & Gaming. 28 (1): 6�12.
doi:10.1177/1046878197281002.
Fisher, Dalmar (1981). Communication in organizations. St. Paul, Minnesota: West
Publishing Company.
Gerwood, Joseph B. (1993). "Nondirective Counseling Interventions with
Schizophrenics". Psychological Reports. 73 (3f): 1147�51.
doi:10.2466/pr0.1993.73.3f.1147. PMID 8115566. INIST:3863920.
Katz, Neil H. and John W. Lawyer (1985). Communication and conflict resolution
skills. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt.
Kotzman, Anne (1984). Reflective listening. Kew, Victoria: Institute of Early
Childhood Development.
Rogers, Carl (1951). Client-Centered Therapy: its current practice, implications,
and theory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Sahakian, William S. (1977). "William S. Sahakian. History and systems of
psychology. New York: Wiley, 1975. Xviii + 494 pp. $19.50; paper, $8.95. (Paul T.
Mountjoy)". Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences. 13 (1): 78�81.
doi:10.1002/1520-6696(197701)13:1<78::AID-JHBS2300130109>3.0.CO;2-9.
External links
Reflective Listening � One-page summary used by National Health Care for the
Homeless Council (currently under construction as of January 12, 2013)

Categories: CounselingHuman communicationBehavior modification


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