Empathic acknowledging--a blend of empathy, listening skills, and acknowledgments--sometimes affects the emotional intimacy of two people involved in a conversation. Before proceeding with the warning, here is some information which you may find useful at this point:

• The table of contents contains a brief description of every chapter.
• There is a short version of this website on empathy and listening skills.
• I, Lawrence J. Bookbinder, Ph.D., wrote this website.
• I run a discussion board on the subject of this website.

Now to proceed with the warning and disclaimer: Life can be difficult and empathic acknowledging can also be difficult. This conversation activity sometimes requires exertion and/or upsets the acknowledger. It sometimes upsets the talker too. More information about the problems is presented in Chapter 9. Difficulties and Problems.

This website provides general information about empathy, listening skills, and acknowledgments, and their influence on emotional intimacy, good relationships, psychological hugs, and happy marriages but does not provide advice on solving psychological or relationship problems. Any psychological, physical, or behavioral reactions you may experience from reading this website and/or using its information is not my responsibility. I am also not responsible for any psychological, physical, or behavioral reactions of the person with whom you may be using the information in this website.

If reading this Warning and Disclaimer causes you to become discouraged about using empathy, listening skills, and acknowledgments, and you are about to leave this website, consider first reading Chapter 4. Benefits for the Acknowledger.

To follow the unfolding of this website, read the Introduction next.

Reading the table of contents will help you understand the following links, which appear on every page of this website:

HOME

CONTENTS

WARNING

INTRODUCTION

1. EMP. ACK.

2. PSYCH. HUG

3. BENEFITS I

4. BENEFITS II

5. URGE TO HELP

6. URGE TO TALK

7. BASIC SKILLS

8. EXPLN. SKILLS

9. DIFFICULTIES

10. ESSNL. ACK.

11. WHEN ACK.

NOTES

ADDNL. READING

APPRECIATIONS

AUTHOR

If you liked this site, e-mailing me your thanks will reward me for creating it and help sustain my motivation to keep it going for future visitors.

My Other Websites on Empathy and Listening Skills

Empathy, Listening Skills, and Relationships is a short version of this website.

Listening Skills and Relationships is a discussion board which includes messages from me and my responses to messages from others. To read or post messages, you do not have to register. Visit the board to read questions and answers, ask or answer questions, share experiences, etc.

Empathy contains a description of a conversation with a United States Copyright Office representative during which I used empathy.

Listening Skills contains a description of listening to my wife talk about her grocery shopping trips.

Communication Skills illustrates my use of nonverbal "listening skills" during a conversation to assess whether the other person is receiving my message.

Listening Skills Professional explains why I advocate that society establish the profession of empathic listener as a profession separate and independent from that of psychotherapist.

Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 by Lawrence J. Bookbinder, Ph.D.