| Deep Listening, or listening from the heart, affects not only the speaker who is heard sincerely and empathetically by others, but also the listeners themselves who do the listening. In this research deep listening refers to a type of communication employed for gathering information, knowledge, thoughts, emotional nuances, and underlying messages as well as a way of being mainly comprised of empathy, authenticity, connectivity, and wholeness. This qualitative research using narrative inquiry methodology interviewed 8 experienced hospice volunteers, averaged age 66.7 years old, whose main work was to be present and to listen to dying people. The research results indicated those listeners deliberately sought an environment that provided an opportunity to enhance their ability to connect with other human beings who were facing death and actively dying. In such an environment, communication, especially listening, seemed to become much more essential and authentic. The volunteer listeners' lived experiences were analyzed and discussed in the light of Abraham Maslow's self-actualization theory. Data was also interpreted through Michael Purdy's Listening Model derived from Jean Gebser's consciousness theory. Deep listeners are actualizing listeners who integrate various modes of listening in order to manifest highly conscious listening modes. |
