Empathic listening

Empathic listening is lending an ear to the client's emotion and trying to understand it from within. Stephen Covey sums it up as 'listening to understand, not to reply'. The coach sets aside their own frame of reference and feels the event from the client's place. This is not approving or offering a solution; it is only standing beside that emotion. A person who feels heard lets go of their defenses and goes deeper.