ABSTRACT
The kind of listening this chapter describes is listening with the intention to listen, as a disciplined and active process that can take place within the briefest of conversations or within an hour of therapy. It discusses Carl Rogers' conditions of congruence, unconditional positive regard and empathy. The chapter considers the difficulties of putting them into practice within mental health settings, drawing in particular upon the experiences and challenges. The implication of the conditions rarely being understood as attitudes is the lack of attention to the importance of self-awareness. Listening that incorporates these attitudes has major implications for personal development. Their quality depends upon the 'person' of the listener and such things as his or her capacity for self-acceptance and empathic sensitivity, qualities which can be developed. The conditions constitute a powerful and healing set of attitudes and values, the expression of which involves far more than learning a set of communication skills or behavioural techniques.
