The Counselling Science Says...

That attending skills help your conversation partner feel understood and heard. These include:

- Eye contact for empathy

- Minimal responses for encouragement (ie. "mm" "yeah" "whoa" etc.)

- Tone of voice (ie. soft, concerned, etc.)

- Appropriate body language (leaning forward, facial expressions, not fidgeting excessively, etc.)

- Prompts to continue ("How so?" "How did that make you feel?" "How did you respond?)

From McLeod & McLead, 2011: Counselling Skills: A practical guide for counsellors and helping professionals