Summary
This article deals with the telling of personal stories and the emotional impact of listening.
Definitions
second person space – the space between storyteller (or self) and the story listener (or other)
neural coupling – the process by which neural patterns of the storyteller mirror the story listener
narrative medicine – medicine professionals are trained to acknowledge, absorb, interpret, and act on the stories and plights of others
transformative learning – “learning that transforms problematic frames of references… to make them more inclusive, discriminating, open, reflective, and emotionally able to change.”
Notes
- Listening does not receive the same attention as speaking
- Range of emotions associated with telling their story, depending on how they are listened to (shame vs. validation, anxiety vs. bravery)
- Listening can be strenuous, it requires conscious effort and focused attention
- Self emerges as a ‘socially constructed concept’ created and recreated when communicating with another
- Second person space – the listener’s presence strengthens the storyteller.
- “…aiding the teller in releasing, rearranging, replacing, or reframing a new one, and recognizing the learning that may emerge from the story.”
- Storytelling is foundational to the human experience: sharing information, communicating emotion, engendering compassion
- People seek affiliation
- Storytelling and story listening serve a biological function: it is experienced in the amygdala, you can achieve neural coupling – the brain of the storyteller aligns itself with the brain of the listner
- Social isolation manifests itself in a manner nearly identical to physical pain
- Dialogue broadens perspectives
- Not feeling listened to causes fragmentation – partisan politics
- Putting emotions and experiences into words improves one’s physical and mental health
- Levels of listening:
- Transformative listening – stories help people make meaning out of experiences and the world around them
- Being a dedicated listener helps to gain mental distance and challenge our own meaning-making schemes
- Storyteller can make their story ‘object’ by conceptualising it as an abstract model or physical metaphor
- Participate in critical reflection
- LEGO serious play methodology
Reflection
- Not formatting the podcast as a lecture – one person speaking to the audience, creates big distance in the second person space
- Having a guest who can enact the active listening and reframe the narrative and recognise the learning
- A guest also creates distance between the story teller and the story – object/balcony metaphor
- Podcasts as a way of mitigating social isolation…?
References
McCann S, Barto J, Goldman N. Learning Through Story Listening. American Journal of Health Promotion. 2019;33(3):477-481. doi:10.1177/0890117119825525e