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About the Episode
In this episode of the Hope + Help Podcast, host Christine Chappell interviews Joe Hussung about his book, Learning to Listen: Essential Skills for Every Counselor. Some of the questions addressed in this interview are:
• Why is listening well an important component of loving people well?
• What makes listening well an essential skill for biblical counselors?
• What role does posture, purpose, and practice have in our ability to listen well in counseling sessions?
• What Christlike characteristics do we mimic when we listen well to the people we’re caring for?
• What difference does body language and tone of voice make in a counseling session?
• How does personal preparation ahead of a counseling session impact our ability to listen well during it?
• What makes asking good questions a key component to listening well to our counselees?
About the Guest
Joseph Hussung, MDiv, DMin, is the Director of Recruitment and a Senior Counseling Supervisor at Fieldstone Counseling, where he counsels regularly, supervises the remote counseling team, and directs Fieldstone’s residency program. He previously spent over fifteen years on staff at churches in various discipleship and pastoral roles. He is the author of Learning to Listen and is a regular contributor to the Biblical Counseling Coalition blog. Joe and his wife, Sarah, have three children and live in Hopkinsville, KY.
About the Book
Learning to Listen offers counselors the biblical principles and core skills necessary to become the active, compassionate listeners counselees need.
Counselors have a high calling to love and care for people who are struggling in a fallen world. A wise biblical counselor draws out the deep attitudes of the heart and encourages their counselees toward growth into the image of Christ. Learning about specific problems, sharing Scripture, and sitting with suffering people are all important parts of counseling. While all of these elements are essential to the counseling task, counseling will ultimately fail without the simple yet vital skill of listening well.
In Learning to Listen, biblical counselor Joseph Hussung gives readers a theology of listening and explains the purpose, posture, and practice of this essential counseling skill. If counselors do not truly hear the hearts of their counselees, they won’t understand the nuanced struggles at play nor how to apply biblical principles. Listening well enables counselors to love well and understand with empathy.
Related Resources from IBCD
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- The Necessity of Individualized Counseling (George Scipione)
- Sage Listening: The Talk Wisdom Uses (Zack Eswine)
- Listening and Ministering to Eating Disorders (Scott Mehl)
- Hope + Help for Respectful Communication (Tim Shorey)
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