ABSTRACT
Dynamic listening also requires the ability to distinguish between left brain interactions, which include interventions such as therapist interpretation and cognitive-behavioral strategies, and right brain interactions, which address injuries to one’s sense of self and difficulties forming secure relational attachments. In addition, the therapist listens for the pervasiveness of defensiveness along any of the dimensions illustrated. In this chapter, the authors present a number of experience-near issues relevant to deeper immersion into empathic listening. They stress that in each stage of therapy, it is the therapist’s task to listen for areas of vulnerability and signs of emerging health. Several video case vignettes are provided to demonstrate how to listen for and navigate verbal content that highlights all three legs of the stool. The case vignette illustrates how the therapist is able to move around the three legs of the stool while tracking moments where the patient dissociates from material during the treatment exchange.
