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Building Counseling Skills: Active Listening,
Empathy, and Gathering Information

Presented by Rebecca Hunting Pompon

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In addition to self-awareness, the development of key communication skills is an essential component of counseling skills for allied health professionals. In particular, employing active listening, empathy, and effective information gathering techniques can help health professionals better understand and relate to their patients, and ultimately improve assessment, help to tailor treatment, and improve outcomes.

Meet your instructor

Rebecca Hunting Pompon

Rebecca Hunting Pompon is a faculty member with the University of Delaware’s Communication Sciences and Disorders program. She holds an MA. in counseling and a PhD in speech and hearing sciences. Her research explores the impact of chronic stress and other psychosocial factors on post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation. Rebecca…

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Chapters & learning objectives

Active Listening

1. Active Listening

Active listening is an essential component of the allied health professional's counseling repertoire. Join Dr. Hunting Pompon as she describes the benefits of active listening, details the non-verbal behaviors that accompany active listening, and demonstrates reflective response techniques used in active listening.

Empathy

2. Empathy

In this chapter, Dr. Hunting Pompon elaborates on the importance of empathy as a tool for improving clinical partnerships and outcomes, including genuine expressions of empathy, and strategies for addressing specific situations involving highly emotional clients.

Gathering Information

3. Gathering Information

In addition to strategies such as active listening and empathy, being strategic about gathering information from patients is essential to successful outcomes. In this chapter, Dr. Hunting Pompon describes the importance of and strategies for gathering deep, quality information from patients, as well as words and strategies that should be used cautiously with patients and families.

Panel Discussion

4. Panel Discussion

In the final chapter of this course, Dr. Hunting Pompon sits down with a patient and a patient caregiver to discuss experiences and issues dealing with active listening and empathy.