Active Listening In Addiction Treatment Part 4
July 11th, 2005 by Terry Keith
Sending Listening Signals
Head movements are important for listening
A head nod signals I am with you, I understand, carry on
It is difficult to accept that someone is listening if they are looking away, so maintain eye contact
Another behavior is the ā??head cockā??, holding the head at a tilted angle to the person being listened to
It is also common when listening to bring the head closer to the person being listened to
Physical closeness signals intellectual and emotional closeness
When listening in the seated position, the head is often propped up by the thumb and first two fingers of the hand, but keep your eyes open or a reverse signal is sent
Active use of the above behaviors can signal that you are giving your full and undivided attention
Active Listening Skills Are Important
When intoxicated our active listening skills disappear, hence the number of misinterpretations of what happened and what another person said.
When in conflict or under stress deliberate use of active listening skills can lower tension and support achieving resolution.
When learning, active listening skills can help get the most out of an educational session.
When beginning or working on relationships, active listening skills can bring about mutual understanding.
Some People Cannot or Will Not Listen
Intoxicated with drugs or alcohol
Active mental illness such as psychosis
Emotionally distraught e.g. very angry, extremely anxious,
Have a hidden agenda and use twisted thinking
They donā??t trust you due to your past behavior
You are sending signals that you donā??t want to listen or you already
Practice What You Have Learned
Choose a person in the room for this exercise
One takes the role of listener and one takes the role of speaker
The speaker shares in five minutes what they have learned about active listening
The listener uses active listening body signals and then takes three minutes or so and shares what they heard and the emotions they picked up from the speaker
The speaker validates if the listener has heard correctly
Reverse the roles
Now give feedback to each other on the listening skills used, both verbal and non verbal
How did it feel to have someone truly attending to what you are saying and feeling?
You cannot deal with addiction and it’s treatment with poor communication and listening skills. Please do not underestimate that value of this last exercise. Many drug and alcohol rehab programs will have this or something similar in it. If you learned a different one in rehab, practice it and then at least try this one. Role playing and practice do not stop when you leave rehab. All the stuff that happens when you leave rehab simply give you more reason to practice the exercises from rehab.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 11th, 2005 at 5:53 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.
