Listening: The Greatest Gift We Can Give

The gift of a listening ear is perhaps the greatest gift we can give. Several years ago I had the privilege of hearing a therapist speak about the value of listening.  He said that his good listening skills more than compensate for his lack of technique and therapeutic elegance.  He said that most clients who seek therapy, more than anything else, are coming into therapy for the opportunity to be heard.  A friend told me that when he was grieving over the loss of his brother, many people came to visit him and many of those people said foolish things, but there were people who visited him during his grief who said nothing, they just sat beside him and cried.  He told me that those were the people whom he knew cared.  Oftentimes the greatest gift we can give is the gift of a silent mouth, a listening ear, and an empathic heart.