NANA SAYS NOT LISTENING IS AN UNIVERSAL PROBLEM

How many times do we use the phrase? Are you listening to me? Children and adults alike do not listen. Or we have selective listening. Just ask any parent when he/she whispers something to someone the child's ears perk up. Learning to tune out happens at a young age. If not interested, just don't care. Now with the gadgets in a hand there is someone or something else that takes our interest. So how to counteract the not listening. Maybe say it once and let the child suffer the consequences. My trick to colleagues who seem disinterested in what I need to tell them clinically-I email and copy the manager. Then there is proof it was done. In all fairness, yes some people just talk a lot but often there is information that needs to be shared. Parents need to communicate with children, spouses and caregivers. Writing it down is good. Calendars with information. But paying attention and respecting another person when talking is important too. How often in a middle of a conversation does someone interrupt? Well too often. Remember if you want someone to listen to you, you must learn to listen back. Giving your full attention to a little child is important. Look at the child. Make eye contact. Get down to their level. Listening is one thing. Teenagers will tell us things in the middle of something else. Paying attention takes real effort.  Then the next deeper issue of actually hearing at all levels what the person has said. A good therapist knows how to listen and to hear. Unfortunately the average person can have trouble with both! So are you listening?