What are active listening skills?

Active listening sounds easy, but it requires skills and practice. There are a number skill sets in active listening. Emotional labeling, paraphrasing, reflecting/mirroring, effective pausing, minimal encouragement, I messages and open ended questioning are all parts of active listening.

Active listening skills are essential for crisis responders. In fact most of us would benefit from consistently using these skills in everyday life. Good communication is a solid foundation for any relationship professional or personal.

Communicating well sounds easy, but is quite complex. Each skill is used concurrently with the others while the crisis responder attempts to remain objective, empathetic and human.

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