Active Listening In Addiction Treatment Part 3
July 9th, 2005 by Terry Keith
Learning involves dialogue with active listening. In addiction we often listen with the purpose of later manipulating the situation to gain control. Manipulation will never lead to a change in behavor. That is one of the main advantages of rehab. In a drug or alcohol rehab there is nothing to be gained by manipulation. It only delays or impedes treatment and change. Another part of active listening involves being heard in a safe manner that doesn’t stop the flow of information. If you are to get the most out of the time spent in rehab and avoid relapse it is imperitive to not only learn to listen, but to get others to truly and calmly hear your truth as well.
Getting Others to Listen
When people are in conflict, they often contradict each other, denying the opponentā??s description of a situation.
This tends to make people defensive, and they will either lash out, or withdraw and say nothing more.
However, if they feel that their opponent is really attuned to their concerns and wants to listen, they are likely to explain in detail what they feel and why
Send clear signals that you want to listen.
Send clear signals that you want to be heard.
Listen first and then ask to be heard.
If both parties to a conflict signal a willingness to listen, the chances of being able to develop a solution to their mutual problem becomes much greater.
(International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict
Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, USA, http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/activel.htm)
One of one main goals in rehab or drug treatment should be to hear and be heard.
This entry was posted on Saturday, July 9th, 2005 at 10:17 pm and is filed under Drug Addiction, Drug Rehab. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
