Active Listening

By: Carl R. Rogers, Richard E. Farson

Narrated by: Larry Peterson

Active Listening is a short 1957 work by Drs. Carl R. Rogers and Richard E. Farson, two influential American psychologists. The work brings the counselling technique of active listening to the layperson, demonstrating how it can be applied to interactions between an employee and employer.

Carl R. Rogers (1902-1987) was one of the pioneers of the "client-centered" approach to psychotherapy. He is considered one of the founding fathers of modern psychotherapy research and is widely regarded among others in the field as the most influential psychotherapist of all time - viewed even more highly than Sigmund Freud. Dr. Rogers served as a professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, where he set up the university's counselling and research clinic, the Industrial Relations Center. He wrote many books on psychotherapy, and in later years, travelled the world to bring his theories to areas of great political and social strife like Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Brazil.

Richard E. Farson (1926-2017) had already completed his bachelor's and master's degrees when he met Dr. Rogers in 1949. Dr. Rogers invited Farson to continue his studies with him at the University of Chicago. Farson became Dr. Rogers' research assistant while he completed his Ph.D. in psychology and began counselling at the Industrial Relations Center. Dr. Farson held leadership positions in a number of research institutions. He co-founded the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute, where he served as president and CEO. He was later appointed as the founding dean of the California Institute of the Arts School of Design and served as president of the Esalen Institute.

©2021 Mockingbird Press, LLC (P)2021 Mockingbird Press, LLC

Really Good Breakdown!

Listen 6x back-to-back. I just wanna be a better listen. Try it out. It's just 40 minutes.

One great point: Repeating someone's words back to them shows good hearing, NOT good listening. There's a difference.
Try relaying another person's statement, but in your own words. That shows that you understand what the person was actually saying.

The courage of actively listening

There are a few pearls in this book by the famous Carl Rogers. I particularly resonated with his comments on how much courage it takes to risk changing your own mind by actively listening to others and suspending judgment.

Relationships

This is an excellent discussion about listening as opposed to hearing and formulating a response without really listening. Excellent for sharing with couples who aren’t listening.

Not good source of topic

The whole short story “book” essentially provided some decent examples of a few active listening discussions in a workplace environment. Not great source on topic as whole since this is a topic not able to be fully covered appropriately in just a few examples. Expected much more and an actual book on topic. Recommend paying more attention to time and length of book prior to purchase. Was a waste of money on this and unsure why it even cost anything to listen to.

Only 41 minutes book

Very short book and couple of points but not worth the purchase it is only 41 minutes long.