"Firstly, the author is George W. Burns, not Michael Yapko. This is a reasonable collection of stories with associated exercises. "

"I have been telling folks about this app for a while but I am so burnt out on screen time. So I was thrilled to find this printed book. It's a much nicer way to use the practice of Examen in the evening without having to look at my phone. I cannot tell you how much I love this. The Examen is such a rich practice but it can get kind of monotonous. In this book, the Examen is presented in fresh ways which I feel allow the reader to examen their life in deeper ways. I've been challenged to confront some ugly and hard truths about my life, developed better habits, and seen all the rich blessings I've been given. I cannot recommend this more highly, it is such a beautiful way to grow with God and to look more closely at my life and relationships. "

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"Conversation by conversation you can discover in others emotions, hopes, fears, dreams and anxieties that make each of us unique. You can know others as they truly are, not as you assume they are or wish them to be and in turn they can get to know the real you too.
When we listen with empathy we raise the bar for our conversations and relationships and inspire others to do the same."

Listen Like You Mean It � A book that will provide you with the roadmap to becoming a better listener. It is written by Ximena Vengoechea. She is a user researcher who she has spent nearly a decade facilitating hundreds of conversations at LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest.

The author lays out a detailed action plan on getting started with empathetic listening and navigating the challenges associated with it. Richly interspersed with stories from the author’s life, its easy to relate every topic with your personal experiences.

The book is extremely comprehensive and has touched upon all aspects of empathetic listening.
Some of the topics that the book addresses include:
1. cultivating a listening mindset
2. Staying present in the conversation and not getting distracted
3. Going beyond words and listening to non verbal cues
4. Deepening conversation through better questions
5. Getting comfortable with silence during conversations
6. Exiting conversations when they are taking a toll on you
7. Having difficult conversations in certain relationships
8. Having conversations around sensitive topics
I have compiled my detailed notes here:

This is a highly recommended read for anyone looking to level up their listening skills in order to develop stronger relationships and become more effective in life & work!"

"Leslie Greenberg developed emotion-focused therapy in response to cognitive-behavior therapy. Whereas CBT directs our attention to the thoughts that accompany emotions, Greenberg believes that there’s value in focusing on our entire emotional experience, of which thoughts are just one aspect. He begins this book by summarizing his view of emotions, drawing a distinction between adaptive and maladaptive emotions. He then states his thesis, which is that the best way to help clients deal with maladaptive emotions is to encourage them to fully feel those emotions and to then help them to develop and replace them with adaptive emotions. This might sound like an obvious, see-spot-run kind of idea, but there’s actually a lot to it, and he provides a detailed step-by-step explanation and buttresses his approach with different research studies.

Greenberg presents this process in very accessible language, and I find it original and incredibly helpful. Moreover, his discussion of memory reconsolidation theory is incredibly intriguing and motivated me to read the studies he references. As someone who has read many psychoanalytic texts, I find it refreshing to have someone base his theory on neuroscience and empirical research.

My only real complaint with the book is that his writing, although clear, tends to be repetitive, and the unedited transcripts of sessions he includes are at times difficult to get through. “CLIENT: I get tired. Well, that always happens. Remember: (Therapist: Yeah.) I told you the (Therapist: Yeah.)—when the sun comes down (Therapist: Mm-hmm.) and it starts getting darker, I always feel like this, ah, you know the feeling of (Therapist: Mm-hmm.) emptiness. (Therapist: Yes.), and � and, like, it � it’s not really a pain but like an emptiness in my stomach.� Many of these sections read like transcripts from a deposition, and the result is a reading experience that’s at times bumpy, jerky, difficult to follow, like trying to read while riding an old wooden roller coaster."