(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . May I Reflect? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-10-28 Welcome to our Open Thread / Coffee Hour! Feel free to discuss any topic that’s on your mind. If you’re looking for a conversation starter, how about sharing your thoughts on reflective listening. Reflective listening is a communication strategy used to better understand a speaker's idea by offering your understanding of their idea back to the speaker in order to confirm that the idea has been understood correctly. It is a more specific strategy than general methods of active listening. Wikipedia: Reflective Listening Join our Empathy Summit on Zoom! Our guest speakers will explore the heart of the Empathy Circle practice. Saturday - November 2, 2024 - 9am to 12:30pm PT. Visit our website for Zoom link: www.empathysummit.com. A reflective listener focuses on understanding and mirroring back what the speaker is expressing verbally. The listener does this by carefully paying attention to the speaker's words and tone, then restating or paraphrasing key points to ensure they’ve understood accurately. Many times I just start reflecting and this just works. Other times I ask, “May I reflect?” This providing of reflection helps the speaker feel heard and validated and encourages them to explore their thoughts and feelings further. Sometimes when I spontaneously start reflecting the speaker just starts pouring their heart out to me. Jump the fold to read more on reflective listening. This is an Open Thread / Coffee Hour. How are you doing today? What is for dinner? What is on your mind? All topics of conversation are welcome. If you are new to Street Prophets please introduce yourself in the comments below. The comments for this article are are after community links. Reflective listening can be practiced in various everyday settings, and starting small often leads to improvements in more complex conversations. Here are some common places and ways to practice: 1. Personal Relationships: Over the last year while I was facilitating Empathy Circles after the circles I would often talk about my experience with a caregiver I work with. One day much to my surprise she said she tried reflective listening with her boy friend. Every time we worked together I would hear her complain about her “idiot boyfriend” and her arguing about one thing or another. What she reported is that she said she took a deep breath and rather that fight him back, verbally, she just reflected back what he was saying. Starting with saying, “I hear you are upset with ….” She said after a few exchanges of her reflecting he said thanks for listening. And they enjoyed watching a movie together rather than continuing to argue. During conversations with loved ones, focus on really understanding their perspective. Ask clarifying questions, reflect on their emotions, and restate their thoughts to ensure understanding. For instance, if a friend is venting about a tough day, you could respond with, “It sounds like that was really overwhelming for you.” 2. Workplace Settings: On the job with another caregiver, she would bring me her concerns about our patient. This made me defensive. I worried about if I was doing my job properly. The more I tried to explain systems, reports, tests, and plans for improvements the more she would tell me what she thought was wrong. One day a light bulb went on in my head. I said to my self why am I not trying reflective listening. So I tried it. And you know what happen? She went through her list of concerns. And stopped. Now her reports are shorter and mostly dealing with new concerns. Reflective listening can be helpful for comprehending team dynamics or a colleague’s concerns. Paraphrasing their points or saying, “It seems like you’re suggesting…” shows that you value their input and clarifies any ambiguities. 3. Educational Environments: When a friend or teacher shares an idea or insight, you can practice reflective listening by restating what they shared to ensure clarity and understanding. This can enhance learning and strengthen group learning discussions. Reflecting feelings and thoughts back to those you are engaging is essential, as it helps create a safe, trusting environment. 4. Meeting Random Strangers: One should keep reflective listening in their took kit when having to meet new people. They may start off in a conversation that is designed to “push your buttons.” By just reflecting you acknowledge they are talking by demonstrating you hear and understand them. You side step judging them or starting to argue with them. This gives you the space to make a withdraw if needed. By consciously practicing in these settings, you’ll develop reflective listening skills that will naturally integrate into your communication style over time. In closing I would like to mention next Saturday, November 2, 2024, the Empathy Center is presenting an on line summit of guest speakers that will be talking about empathy circle practice. They will be speaking on many more benefits and uses of reflective listening. Visit our website for Zoom link: www.empathysummit.com. Join our Empathy Summit on Zoom! Our guest speakers will explore the heart of the Empathy Circle practice. Saturday - November 2, 2024 - 9am to 12:30pm PT. Visit our website for Zoom link: www.empathysummit.com. Regards, Jonathan Gordon [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/10/28/2279632/-May-I-Reflect?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=community_groups_Street+Prophets&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/