Introduction
Within the 1950s, the concept of active listening was described by psychologists Carl Rogers & Richard E. Farson. There has been conducted research as a way to find out what makes an effective counselor, and these factors may play into how we implement active listening into our everyday conversations/discussion. Active listening is thought to be a practice of speaking less when listening and spending more time being present within the conversation. Upon being present within the conversation, you should not be focusing on what your response is going to be but rather staying attentive to what the other person is speaking on. Active listeners have been defined to take part in freeing one’s self from the need of influence towards others to follow and direct others onto our own paths. Putting these thoughts into practice will result in one to be capable of listening while understanding.
Importance
The importance of active listening remains relevant within our society as it is a crucial step that non-Black folks need to take in order to present stronger allyship and an openness to hearing about the experiences of the Black community. In order to actively listen, people must focus upon the consumption of both the content and context of the conversation while understanding what is being said & noticing the emotion of the speaker. Active listening is also a tool to keep in mind for non-Black folks in order to avoid overstepping the boundaries of the Black community. This does not necessarily mean having ANY input within the conversation but rather ensuring that you are not speaking for the individual on said subject that is significantly impacting their emotional, mental, physical health.
Misconceptions and Conclusion
This may seem to be an “easy” concept to grasp, but learning how to listen has its difficulties. One’s willingness to learn how to strengthen and improve their listening skills factors in an individual’s motivation and personality type. People may often claim that hearing is synonymous to listening, but this is not the case. Hearing is a passive process that we do without thinking while listening is an active learning process in adopting such a skill requiring much more effort. The ultimate goal of listening is to understand, and food listening to be effective, other senses and cognitive processes are included. Effective listening is not solely dependent on one’s ability to hear but also looking at the interpretation of the speaker’s voice and being aware of their body language.