Empathic listening means listening with the intent to understand. This type of listening gets inside another person's frame of reference. You see the world the way they do; you understand their paradigm; you relate to how they really feel. Steven R Covey
I have spent quite a few years in law enforcement and this was a tough one for me, I would take the information in very quickly and I was ready with a response instead of really listening to understand. But as a 911 dispatcher it usually involved some quick choices, but that also bled into my personal life and found myself interrupting or already thinking of the reply and not trying to understand. If you are in the midst of already thinking of your reply, you are not fully listening either.
I have worked on this for quite some time and it is indeed something that I have to think about and still catch myself doing sometimes. What I do know now is I am aware of it and that is a great step towards taking positive action.
It also helps quite a bit in my line of work now. Clients talk about many things and sometimes it is just to blow off steam and they are not necessarily looking for any answers.
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