Who is this blog aimed at? Those working with in health or social care.

How long is the read? 6-8 minutes

Summary: This blog explores the power of listening in health and social care settings, emphasising its importance in fostering meaningful connections, especially when discussing mental health and well-being. Whilst speaking out is crucial, being truly heard and understood is equally essential. The blog delves into the barriers to listening, both external and internal, and provides practical techniques for overcoming these obstacles. It introduces skills such as open discovery questions, reflective listening, and summarising, all of which enhance active listening and help build trust, clarity, and stronger professional relationships. These strategies are vital in creating a supportive space for individuals to express themselves, ensuring they feel valued and heard.

_________________________________________________________

In February, we recognised ‘Time to Talk Day’ – the nation’s biggest conversation about mental health. Events like this create moments that encourage people to open up about mental health and wellbeing – and it is important we encourage people to feel comfortable talking about their mental health.

But whilst speaking out is important, being listened to, heard and understood is just as essential. Being comfortable talking and sharing deeply challenging or traumatic aspects of peoples lives, requires a safe and supportive space, that can be enabled, through the power of listening.

Understanding the barriers to listening

One of the biggest challenges to effective listening lies in the many things that are competing for our attention. These external and internal barriers prevent us from being able to fully listen.

External barriers are distractions from the environment around us that can disrupt our focus. Examples might include:

Whereas internal barriers are those which originate within us but can be even harder to manage. These might include…

External barriers tend to be more controllable, whilst internal barriers present a unique challenge as they are often less tangible and therefore harder to control. With countless distractions, it’s no wonder many find it challenging to practice deep listening.

What listening really is

Listening is about truly absorbing what someone is saying – focusing on more on them, than on you.

It means not only hearing the words, but also understanding the reasons behind them – being curious, engaged, interested, and reflecting on what is said as much as what isn’t.

Listening is a skill, and like any skill, it can be developed and needs continuous reflection and refinement.

Navigating the barriers to listening

Navigating barriers to listening is crucial because effective listening fosters deeper understanding, stronger relationships, and better communication.

By overcoming distractions, biases, and assumptions, you can foster genuine connections. Here are some key skills to help you navigate internal barriers to listening whilst building strong, effective relationships and partnerships in your work.

Open Discovery Questions

As professionals, you’ll be familiar with the concept of open-ended questions – those that require more than a simple “yes” or “no” response. But open discovery questions take this a step further, offering a powerful way to encourage deeper dialogue, foster trust, and uncover insights that may not emerge through standard questioning alone.

Unlike general open-ended questions, open discovery questions intentionally begin with “WHAT” or “HOW.” These words naturally invite reflection, curiosity, and a more detailed and deeper response.

For example:
❓ “What challenges have you been facing recently?”
❓ “How have you felt this week?”

By structuring questions in this way, you demonstrate genuine curiosity and encourage individuals to express their thoughts, emotions, and experiences in their own words.

But this approach does more than just gather information – it helps people feel heard, understood, and empowered.

Next time you’re engaging with someone – whether a client, patient, or colleague – try shifting from simple open-ended questions to open discovery questions.
🔹 Instead of: “Do you have any concerns about your progress?”
🔹 Try: “What concerns, if any, have come up for you as you’ve been working on this?”

🔹 Instead of: “Are you coping okay?”
🔹 Try: “How have you been managing things this week?”

By making this subtle yet powerful shift in your communication style, you create a space where individuals feel safe to express not just what they think you want to hear, but what truly matters to them.

Reflections

One of the most effective ways to stay truly connected to what someone is saying is through reflective listening. Reflecting back what you hear not only enhances their experience of being heard but also helps you as a professional stay grounded, focused, and engaged.

Repeating or paraphrasing the individuals’ words forces you to actively process what they’re saying rather than pre-emptively formulating a response.

At its core, reflecting back is like being a mirror for the person speaking. It allows them to hear their own thoughts, gain clarity, and feel validated in their emotions. When done well, reflective listening can deepen trust, encourage more open conversations, and support meaningful connections – whether in professional settings, therapeutic environments, or everyday interactions.

There are several ways to reflect back what someone has shared. One of the easiest ways to introduce reflection into your practice is through reflecting back key words or phrases.

🔹 Simple Reflection (Repeating key words)

Sometimes, the most effective way to reflect is to simply repeat one or two words the person has just said. This technique reassures them that you’re actively listening and encourages them to expand on their thoughts.

💬 Person: “I just feel so overwhelmed with everything.”
🔁 Reflection: “Overwhelmed…”

💬 Person: “I don’t know if I can do this.”
🔁 Reflection: “Not sure you can do this”

This minimal but powerful response signals that you’re present and engaged, prompting the speaker to naturally continue sharing.

Incorporating reflections into your conversations doesn’t require perfect wording – it simply requires being present, engaged, and curious. The next time you’re speaking with someone, try using one this reflection technique and notice how it deepens the relationship.

Summaries

Periodically summarising what has been said throughout the conversation can help show the person you are listening and hearing them.

The simplest and easiest way to give a summary is simply to tell the individual that’s what you ware doing.

🔁 Summary: “Would be okay if I summarised what we have spoken about so far?

Summaries enable you to pull together all the important information, order information, create space for you to think about what next, but also allow the person to indicate if there is anything you have missed. But, valuable, it also helps you to stay connected to what is being said – keeping those distractions at bay. 

Summarising helps you to gather and organisation key information, creating space to consider next steps, whilst giving the individual a change to clarify or add anything that you might have missed.

Just as importantly, however, it keeps you engaged in the conversation, and minimises distractions

Effective listening is a vital skill, enabling professionals to foster deeper connections, especially in conversations about mental health. By overcoming internal and external barriers to listening and using techniques like open discovery questions, reflective listening, and summaries, we can create a supportive space where individuals feel heard and understood.

Don’t believe me? Check out this video of how health and social care professionals can feel heard. (This video was produced by Dialogues, in partnership with someone who shared their experiences of navigating health and social care).

Access the video here: How health and social care can help people feel heard