Professional Listener
I have big ears, just like the beagle in the photo. Well, perhaps my ears are not that big physically, but they certainly feel big when I’m doing life coaching sessions, podcasts and having other types of healing conversations with people.
In fact, my ears have to be big because a lot of my work revolves being a good listener; no, let me rephrase that … a really good listener.
Did you know that there are many types of listening? Active listening, passive listening, extreme listening, informational listening, critical listening, therapeutic listening, emphatic listening, evaluative listening, etc. All of these variations on “listening” are valuable in their own right, and when used by a trained practitioner as part of a healing protocol, they often garner positive results.
A little exploration …
Recently, I discovered that there is a profession called a “Professional Listener”. I didn’t even know it existed until a few days ago when I was pondering the basic human need to feel ‘listened to” and then (on a whim) combined and googled the words “professional” and “listener”.
From a discovery perspective, three websites caught my eye: ListenTruly, Professional Listener, and The Professional Listener.
After exploring the three websites, I was intrigued, although not 100% clear on where the Professional Listener skill set landed on the healing ladder (Mubeena of ListenTruly did a good job sharing her perspective), and since the Professional Listener job is not regulated yet, the scope of the descriptions seemed to be more subjective than objective.
On a bright note, I do sense that this service offering has the potential to fill a real-life need; a need that is predicted to explode as “human contact” diminishes and tech infiltrates, absorbs and expands in our lives. People need to connect; and they need to feel listened to in a safe, secure, non-judgemental space … it is part of the human condition; and it is how humans are built. Moving forward, it may very well be that Professional Listeners may help fill a tech-human void that we simply cannot avoid.
A growing industry …
As an aside, I had the same sort of inkling years ago when I stumbled across a budding profession called “Life Coach”. Who would have guessed that the personal coaching market would blossom and flower? Well, it not only blossomed, but it is also thriving and expected to reach a U.S. estimated market value of $1.34 billion by 2022 (growth rate of 6.7% a year). Source: The U.S. Personal Coaching Market by Marketdata LLC, Apr 2018.
In the thrill of discovering a new profession, I briefly contemplated becoming a Professional Listener; but then I realized that I was perfectly content, fulfilled and satisfied in the realm of exactly where I was … being a Healing Conversationalist (What is a Healing Conversationalist? A person who is good at or fond of engaging in conversation about becoming sound, whole, and healthy again.).
At the end of the day, I really like the idea of the Professional Listener service offering. Plus, I’m excited to see how the arena grows, regulates and develops. Accolades all around the table!