In order to discern what action to take for a child’s health and wellbeing, a parent has many things to consider. The child may appear physically sick. A child could be fearful, which is an emotional response to something in the child’s life. If the child is young, they may not be able to verbalize what is bothering them. When the parent practices the techniques with a child who is verbal, active listening can help create a correct plan of action that can lead to better health.

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Personal Story

Doctors have been an important part of our family’s health team. The doctors who have used active listening with us and our children are highly regarded. The simple reason is that when we feel listened to, we are more apt to be honest about what we are feeling or what our true emotions are. The more information we give, the more insight the doctor can base his recommendations on.

Active Listening

To find out what a child is dealing with, a person needs to listen to the child’s story with kindness and careful attention to details as the child speaks. Having a non-judgmental attitude is also important.

Active listening involves these things:

• Concentration
• Patience
• Purposefulness
• Self-restraint
• Questions that are open-ended
• Undivided attention

Practicing active listening is important and parents can improve on their line of questioning.

Techniques

Specific techniques help a child to answer questions that help a parent or practitioner to identify condition the child is facing. Controlled emotional responses of the questioner

• Open-ended questions about the child’s development, the coming on of an illness, lifestyle, spirituality, or environmental factors. An example question is: What are your favorite foods?
• Pauses that give a child to process the question and ponder an answer.
• Silence that allows a child to bring up his or her concerns.

The goals of using these techniques are to gain insights to the complaint, secondary issues, the treatments that have already been used, and to create “next-step” strategies.

Action

All children need a listening ear. Using these three simple techniques can bring more information to the surface so that a plan can be formulated.

May God bless your healthful endeavors!

Joni

P.S. Which technique do you use the most?