ABSTRACT
My interest in the career counseling profession grew from learning the most basic of counseling skills, active listening. Active listening is not only listening actively to the content of what a person says, it is listening to the whole person. It means observing nonverbal cues, like gestures, facial expressions, changes in posture, and/or looking for congruence between the nonverbal and verbal messages. Active listening includes listening for the feelings underlining the message, for cultural differences, and/or barriers expressed. By first responding to the sender’s feelings, the listener demonstrates what he or she heard, allowing the sender to confirm or correct before new information is added. To be involved with something that comes so naturally, that one does and takes for granted, was exciting to me. Of course, there is more to being a counselor than listening, yet at the time, it was the catalyst for my decision to enter the field. Just as we know few particulars when we fall in love, connecting with a profession, one resonating deep meaning for you, is much the same. Little did I dream then, that one day I would champion active listening as equally important to the online career counseling process.
