ch 3 Listening, Attending, and Empathy

Flashcards covering the foundational concepts of listening, attending behavior, and empathy as presented in Chapter 3.

Attending behavior

Supporting your client with individually and culturally appropriate verbal following, visuals, vocal quality, and body language/facial expression.

3 V's + B

The four specific skills (Visual/eye contact, Vocal qualities, Verbal tracking, and Body language) used to communicate that you are listening or attending to the client.

Visual / eye contact

Looking at people when you speak to them to show attention, while remaining aware of cultural differences in appropriate eye contact.

Vocal tone and qualities

Changes in pitch, volume, speech breaks, and rate that communicate warmth, interest, and emotional reactions to the client.

Verbal tracking

Staying with the client's topic and tracking their story without jumping topics or changing the subject.

Body language / facial expression

Maintaining authenticity and showing interest by facing clients squarely, leaning forward, and using encouraging gestures or smiles.

Verbal underlining

The key words a person emphasizes by means of volume and specific vocal emphasis.

Selective Attention

A central concept in interviewing where clients tend to talk about what counselors are willing to hear or focus on.

Social skills training

A set of psychoeducational strategies oriented toward teaching clients interpersonal skills and behaviors such as listening, assertiveness, and mediation.

Training as treatment

A term summarizing the method and goal of social skills training, implying that many clients can benefit from education in listening and communication skills.

Empathy

Experiencing the client’s world and story as if you were that client; understanding and expressing their main ideas accurately without adding personal thoughts or meanings.

Subtractive empathy

Counselor responses that give back less than or distort what the client has said.

Basic empathy

Counselor responses that are roughly interchangeable with those of the client.

Additive empathy

Counselor responses that link to previous statements or provide a congruent frame of reference to help the client see a new perspective.

Mirror neurons

Brain cells that fire when humans or animals act and when they observe actions by another; they are key to the process of empathy.

Telebehavioral health

Also known as telepsychology, this practice involves providing education, prevention, assessment, and treatment from a distance using online approaches.