Active Listening is a communication skill which involves both the sender and the receiver in the communication process. At San Francisco Suicide Prevention we teach our volunteers to practice Active Listening with every call they receive. It is the foundation of our entire program.

In active listening, the receiver tries to understand what it is the sender is feeling or what his or her message means. The person puts their understanding into their own words and feeds it back for the sender's verification. The receiver does not send back a message of his or her own -- such as an evaluation, opinion, advice, logic, or question. He or she feeds back only what they feel the sender's message meant -- nothing more, nothing less.

Whenever a person decides to communicate with another person, they do so because they have a need. He or she wants something, feels discomfort, has a feeling or thought about something. Therefore, they decide to talk -- to communicate with another person. In deciding to talk, the person selects words which they believe will deliver the message that they wish to communicate. When the other person receives the coded message, they must then go through the process, translating the verbal symbols into understanding of meaning.

If the receiver translates accurately, they will understand the message of the sender. If the receiver does not translate accurately, they will misunderstand the message and the communication process will have broken down. Very often neither the sender nor the receiver is aware the communication process has worked improperly! It is for this reason that active listening is effective. If a misunderstanding has occurred, it will be known immediately and the communication can be clarified before any further misunderstanding occurs.

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