Learning to Listen

I believe every doctor should listen to Dr. Alicia Conill advice on listening to patients. Too often doctors come off as indifferent when dealing with patients, which can be emotionally damning to someone struggling with a life changing diagnosis. Dr. Conill’s advice could be applied to any situation. All of us want to be heard, but none of us truly listen. Take for example an arguing couple, both want their side of the argument to be heard and neither wants to hear each other out. If even just one of them would stop talking and listen to the other’s point with out forming a rebuttal or tuning them out, it could dramatically change they dynamics of the relationship, maybe even changing the couples paths from divorced to a happy and fulfilling marriage. I have learned to listen when in an argument with my significant other and instead of snapping back with some hasty comeback assuming what their words meant. I open my heart and mind to what they are saying not only with words, but with body language. Sometimes my significant other is having trouble expressing how they feel, using awkward words and becoming more angry with themselves for not being able to fully explain how they are feeling. When you really stop and listen to the other person, and that person feels that they have been heard, I believe it breaks down a wall or barrier bringing the couple closer together. People just want to be heard no matter if they are wrong or right and if they are in the wrong, hearing them out can lead to a positive conversation on a healthy outcome preventing repeated arguments.