![]() ![]() In so doing, the listener encourages the speaker to fully express herself or himself free of interruption, criticism or being told what to do. Through empathic listening the listener lets the speaker know, "I understand your problem and how you feel about it, I am interested in what you are saying and I am not judging you." The listener unmistakably conveys this message through words and non-verbal behaviors, including body language. "Quite frequently the strong emotional background of an issue and the personalities involved may be more significant than the facts." He suggested that mediators apply "sympathetic understanding," which in reality is empathic listening.Īdditional insights into empathic listening are offered by Beyond Intractability project participants.Įmpathy is the ability to project oneself into the personality of another person in order to better understand that person's emotions or feelings. Understanding "is not confined to bare facts," he said. ![]() ![]() Simkin was writing about more than the need to understand and project an understanding of the facts. At that point," he said, "and only then, can (the mediator) expect to be accorded confidence and respect." William Simkin, former director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and one of the first practitioners to write in depth about the mediation process, noted in 1971 that "understanding has limited utility unless the mediator can somehow convey to the parties the fact that knows the essence of the problem. "You were the only one who cared about what we were saying." When the final session ended, the leader of the community organization bolted across the floor, clasped the mediator's hand and thanked him for being "different from the others." In the end, the public officials prevailed and the aggrieved community got little relief. After weeks of protest activity, the parties agreed to mediation. It involved the construction of a highway that would physically divide a community centered around a public housing project. Community Relations Service, recalls a highly charged community race-related conflict he responded to more than 30 years ago when he was a mediator in the agency's Mid-Atlantic office. Jonathon Chace, associate director of the U.S. Though useful for everyone involved in a conflict, the ability and willingness to listen with empathy is often what sets the mediator apart from others involved in the conflict.Įven when the conflict is not resolved during mediation, the listening process can have a profound impact on the parties.
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