Active listening: what it is and why it’s good
Active listening is a skill that you can use to improve your communication with your child. It’s more than just hearing your child – it’s tuning in to your child’s thoughts and feelings.
Active listening can strengthen your communication and improve your relationship with your child. This is because active listening shows your child that you care and are interested. It can also help you learn about and understand what’s going on in your child’s life.
With active listening, you don’t have to talk too much. In fact, the less you talk, the more opportunities you give yourself to understand what your child is communicating. This can take the pressure off you to come up with answers and solve problems, and it also makes it more likely that your child will ask you what you think.
Talking with you is good for your child’s thinking processes too. It can help your child to think more clearly because it gives them the chance to express their thoughts and feelings without judgment or correction.
Good communication with your child starts with good listening. And good communication is central to a strong, healthy relationship with your child.
1. Give your child your full attention
When you give your child your full attention, you send the message that your child is the most important thing to you right now. It tells your child that you’re available and interested in what they’re thinking, feeling and doing.
Here are tips:
- Get close when your child is speaking.
- Use eye contact to show you’re listening.
- Use non-verbal language to show you’re listening – for example, turn towards your child, and keep your arms uncrossed.
- Use facial expressions that show interest and curiosity.
- Turn off the TV, and put your mobile phone and other devices down.
- Bring your mind back to what your child is saying if your thoughts wander off.
2. Let your child talk without interrupting
This means not saying things or asking questions that break your child’s train of thought.
It might help to concentrate on what your child is saying rather than thinking about what you’re going to say next. This will help you work out what your child is trying to tell you and why.
3. Show your child that you’re interested
There are many ways you can do this. Just nodding your head and saying things like ‘I see’ and ‘That sounds hard/great/tricky ...’ are great ways to start.
When there’s a pause and you can say something without interrupting your child, you can ask questions that show interest. For example, ‘And then what happened?’
Active listening is the best way to show your child that you’re genuinely interested and that you really care. It also helps to avoid conflict caused by misunderstandings.
4. Summarise your child’s words and feelings
This is a key step in active listening, because it shows that you’ve been paying attention and you’re trying to understand.
Try repeating what your child is saying in your own words. For example:
- ‘Let me see if I’ve understood. You’re feeling angry because I didn’t talk to you before making plans for this weekend.’
- ‘When Kate did that, you felt upset because you thought she liked you.’
When you’re summarising, it’s best to avoid making judgments if you can. For example:
- It’s judgmental to say, ‘You want to stay out too late’.
- It’s non-judgmental to say, ‘You want to stay out until midnight’.
Often when you use active listening and repeat back your child’s words, it’s like an invitation to say more, because your child feels heard. It can encourage your child to explain or say more about what they’re thinking.
Listening isn’t the same thing as agreeing. You can understand and respect another person’s point of view without agreeing with it.