Why Don’t We Listen Better Practical Book Reivew

Why Don’t We Listen Better Practical Book Reivew

Jennifer Chung
HSER 508
Practical Book Review
February 18, 2009

Petersen, J. C. (2007). Why don’t we listen better? Communicating and connecting in relationships. Tigard, OR: Petersen Publications.

HEY!
Communication is an extremely important part of the human experience and any effort to improve one’s skills is valuable. Most people think they listen well but don’t and people usually walk away from a conversation feeling unheard, misunderstood and disconnected. Petersen uses real world experiences to teach the reader how to handle difficult situations and people. In Petersen’s concept, improvement in listening skills will result in an overall improvement in relationships.   
Peterson describes the flat brain syndrome in his book. Stomach functions consist of people’s emotions or feelings – those inner nudges that let people know when they’re uncomfortable, happy, excited, interested, attracted, irritable, angry, resentful, frustrated, and curious. Feelings are people’s internal responses to the world around them, to what they’re thinking, and to their bodies. Healthy heart functions give and receive concerns, suggestions, and support and are ready to consider many options and possibilities. Healthy hearts recognize that people don’t possess “the whole truth,” but are confident both in owning their views and remaining open to the views of others. The head functions incorporate thinking, planning, remembering, reviewing, deciding, and rationalizing. Petersen points out that a proper understanding of these relationships goes a long way in the reduction of conflicts. Petersen humorously points out with a picture of what occurs in most conflicts is that the stomach fills with feelings to such a point that it presses the heart upwards.  Beng forced upwards, the heart compresses the brain against the top of the head thus flattening the brain which results in the flat brain syndrome. It is this flat brain scenario where the individual is unable to...

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