http://supportivelistening.org Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:06:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en When the stakes are low, it’s not that difficult to just be present and listen. Yet great listening is most impactful when the stakes are high—and that’s when “simply listening” becomes not so simple. Thus I’ve been thinking about ways to support myself in being a good listener, particularly in situations ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2010/08/18/a-powerful-listening-tool/ We're very good at telling other people what to do. "Why don't you just talk to her about it?" is a personal favorite of mine, as is "don't make such a tragedy out of it." In fact, being directive comes to us so naturally that we do it even ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2010/08/18/flavors-of-directiveness/ Most people think of supportive listening as something that occurs between two people. Most of our training workshops are for individuals or pairs of friends, where we focus on training one person at a time. We have seen wonderful things happen as a result of this ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2010/04/27/supportive-communities-broadening-the-impact-of-listening/ As a leader, there is a time to hang back and just listen, and there is a time to give structure and guidance to the speaker. Quite simply, if you make an intentional choice about which style to bring to a given context, your employees will feel better listened to, ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2010/04/27/choosing-the-right-leadership-listening-tool/ OK, so the news is that somebody is noticing this phenomenon, of patients reporting adverse side effects of medications, and basically being ignored. If you've been on heavy duty medication before, you know this to be true. Now it's being researched more carefully? Why? Because for pharma companies developing drugs, they ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2010/04/13/nyts-says-doctors-ignore-reports-of-adverse-side-effects/   My good friend Elka Vera told me about this fascinating interview on NPR with Dr. Lisa Sanders, who has written a book about the challenges of medical diagnosis. The problem seems to be that many physicians, feeling pressed for time, interrupt, to move things along. But the result is that they often ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2010/01/10/better-medicine-through-better-listening/ Underneath the mechanical techniques of listening, there is something much more powerful: the mindset, the set of attitudes, that you bring into a conversation. If you’re like most people, you don’t go into conversations with a conscious mindset. Rather you leave it to chance, and find that while some interactions go ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2009/12/24/making-holiday-listening-more-enjoyable/ Here is a very powerful story about listening, featured in the New York Times. It's about a retired Japanese policeman who organized a group of people to help prevent suicides at the site of famous sea cliffs in Japan. The main tool that they use? Listening. I'm convinced that there is ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2009/12/18/listening-saves-lives/ In this crazy world, in this rushed and hurried life, stress is ever present. It finds us at different moments of our day: In bed, trying to fall asleep, our head is filled with thoughts of things that need to get done; in the car, we hope that no unexpected ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2009/11/15/a-hidden-oasis-from-holiday-stress/ I'm very pleased to announce that I'll be offering an evening workshop, Master the Tango of Listening, on Thursday, October 8th, 2009, through the Stanford Center for Education and Professional Development. This 2.5 hour workshop will be designed specifically for nurses, and participants will receive BRN Continuing Education credits. Here is the ... http://supportivelistening.org/index.php/2009/08/31/workshop-for-nurses-master-the-tango-of-listening/