Learning to Listen offers counselors the biblical principles and core skills necessary to become the active, compassionate listeners counselees need.
Counselors have a high calling to love and care for people who are struggling in a fallen world. A wise biblical counselor draws out the deep attitudes of the heart and encourages their counselees toward growth into the image of Christ. Learning about specific problems, sharing Scripture, and sitting with suffering people are all important parts of counseling. While all of these elements are essential to the counseling task, counseling will ultimately fail without the simple yet vital skill of listening well.
In Learning to Listen, biblical counselor Joseph Hussung gives readers a theology of listening and explains the purpose, posture, and practice of this essential counseling skill. If counselors do not truly hear the hearts of their counselees, they won’t understand the nuanced struggles at play nor how to apply biblical principles. Listening well enables counselors to love well and understand with empathy.
“Listening seems like such a simple act; most humans live as though everyone has this skill. However, everyone who trains counselors will testify that not listening well is one of the most common pitfalls of new counselors. Listening is vital to caring well, so how do we bridge this gap? Learning to Listen provides an excellent solution. Joe Hussung draws from Scripture, theology, and case studies to provide counselors with a primer on this essential but often overlooked component of loving care.”
Curtis Solomon, Executive Director, the Biblical Counseling Coalition; program coordinator, Biblical Counseling, Boyce College
“Like many, I need stirred up by way of reminder, and that is exactly what this brief but powerful book provided. Listening well—often relegated as a skill for beginning counselors and caregivers—is elevated in Dr. Hussung’s book as an essential component of the counseling process by which both beginners and longtime practitioners will be sharpened. I trust that his book will become a staple for training a new generation of biblically wise and faithful counselors.”
Jonathan D. Holmes, Executive Director, Fieldstone Counseling
“Listening well in counseling is not as straightforward as it might seem. This book offers an extended reflection on listening that is both welcomed and needed. Hussung provides theological grounding for our listening and then offers practical skills to help counselors fulfill their intentions to love people well in ways that reflect the heart of Christ.”
Lauren Whitman, Counselor and faculty member, Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF)
“Joe helps us to better understand why listening well is a key component to loving people well. Not only does he offer a biblical framework for the purpose, posture, and practice of listening, but he also shows how embracing such a framework can impact our counseling conversations. If you care for souls in any capacity, you will benefit from reading this resource!”
Christine Chappell, Certified Biblical Counselor; author of Midnight Mercies and Postpartum Depression; Hope + Help Podcast host, Institute for Biblical Counseling & Discipleship
“In our modern biblical counseling world, we have many wonderful books on the theory and theology of counseling. Increasingly we have many excellent books on how to counsel for specific issues. However, our movement is still somewhat thin on practical, biblical skill-based training. Enter Joe Hussung and Learning to Listen. Listening is a relational competency necessary for every counselor with every counselee with every counseling issue. Learning to Listen adroitly directs us first to the God who hears and sees us, then walks us through the purpose, posture, and practice of Christlike, compassionate, skillful listening.”
Robert W. Kellemen, Author of Gospel Conversations: How to Care Like Christ
“Effective counselors are masters of understanding their clients, seamlessly weaving together active listening and asking skillful questions. But how do you develop these skills? In Learning to Listen, Joe Hussung has written a helpful guide to the why and the how of listening. Read it, follow it, and watch your counseling conversations flourish.”
Nate Brooks, Associate Professor of Counseling, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; director, Courage Christian Counseling
“Learning to Listen is a helpful resource for biblical counselors. Joseph Hussung wisely brings together theology and practical skills, showing how truly listening to counselees unlocks deeper understanding and Christ-centered transformation. If you want to become a more compassionate, effective counselor, this book will elevate your approach to caring for others.”
Eliza Huie, Director of Counseling, McLean Bible Church; author of Trauma Aware and I’m Stressed
“Counseling skills books abound, but none quite like Learning to Listen. In this book, Joe expertly interweaves love for neighbor through listening with practical, tangible skills that every counselor needs to know. Just as God listens to his people and attends to their needs, so too must Christian counselors attend well to their counselees. This book is deeply theological yet immensely practical. I'm excited to use this as I train new counselors!”
Kristin L. Kellen, Associate Professor of Biblical Counseling, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Biblical wisdom is reflected in the humble practice of careful listening, which is something we as counselors don't always do well. In this book, Joe Hussung provides more than admonition—he gives practical counsel and examples to help us grow in this essential skill.”
Paul Tautges, Pastor; author of Remade: Embracing Your Complete Identity in Christ and A Small Book for the Hurting Heart
“Learning to Listen reminds us of an essential skill for gaining clarity in the stories of those we love. As we seek to care like Jesus, let us all ask the Spirit to help us become careful, compassionate listeners to rightly apply the gospel and stir affections to Christ within every conversation.”
Shauna Van Dyke, Care and Leadership Development Minister, The Mount Church; strategic advisor, The Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC); founder and biblical counselor, Truth Renewed
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While one does not need a seminary degree to read and understand Learning to Listen, even those who have one will benefit from reading it. Hussung digs into the roots of poor listening skills, such as when he highlights the truth that it is pride, not wisdom, that underlies being quick to speak in counseling. As students of the Word, biblical counselors can feel an eagerness to quickly connect the dots between the truths of Scripture and the struggles expressed by the person sitting in front of us. Yet, counselees will more readily receive and experience those connections when they feel they have been seen, heard, and understood. This book belongs on our shelves.
So many essential skills for life are caught rather than taught. I am delighted and encouraged to say that this book is a gift in both, for in its pages, I found the helpful teaching and his personal examples. Not all are stories where he listened well or where counseling had the outcome he hoped for, but in humility, the author shares where he has poorly counseled and how he learned and grew, and I think that other readers, like me- will be reminded that we are not saviors, but only learn to better reflect the heart of the one true Savior, Jesus. Indeed, a book that seeks to help counselors develop the skill and posture of hearing and understanding people before us, can only excel as it is tied to the heart of Jesus. This one is. Some of my favorite portions in this book were his descriptions of a God who listens as a foundation for both why listening is essential, a demonstration of real care, and also the power behind our “how” as we understand another person. His practical skills, for both in-person and virtual care, will be ones that I review regularly, especially his sections on understanding the gaps of context, values, and perspective. I can think of many interactions where my listening was poor, and whether by fault or ignorance, I did not care well for friends, family, or others. I wish I had read this years ago, and I am especially grateful for resources such as this to explore these essential skills that can easily be taken for granted– until they become sources of great pain or harmful habits. This short little book is an accessible blessing for anyone who cares for another person, ever.
Learning to Listen is a fanastic resource! It includes three parts: the purpose of listening, the posture of listening, and the practice of listening. It’s geared towards counselors and people helpers; however, in my opinion it would be beneficial for anyone who wants to love and listen to others like Jesus.
This book addresses several detailed elements of listening not found in other works. The section on Reflections was quite good, providing the counselor with a tool for engaging without force.
"You can't love without listening." The opening line of the introduction tells us why this is an important book not only for counselors, but for anyone who wants to love others well. Hussung roots his understanding of true listening in the character of God, and the attentive posture of Christ in his earthly ministry. A Christlike heart is a heart that seeks to know another person genuinely. And this cannot be done without listening. Hussung also writes with humility, sharing examples of times when he didn't listen well as a counselor. As someone who has made these same mistakes (and more), and helps other counselors develop their listening skills, I appreciated his willingness to be transparent about his own growth journey. Hussung understands that learning to listen is a process. However, he also understands that learning to listen requires intentionality. He identifies the cultural, personal, and contextual challenges to listening well and offers a wealth of practical wisdom for developing effective listening skills. This book is a must-read for those engaged in counseling at any level. I'm recommending it to all of our counselors at Anchored Virtual.
Joesph Hussung does an amazing job laying out the foundation in "Learning to Listen" for why listening is an essential skill for a counselor or anyone in a related field, such as a pastor or minister. To draw the reader in, Hussung not only uses his own stories of struggling to listen but also uses short and quite profound statements to cause the reader to pause and reflect. For example, "God, on the other hand, listens out of love and after he hears, he still loves. No matter how messy the story or difficult the context of our cries, God's love is unfazed and undeterred." This statement sets the tone for the rest of the book of how and why we must listen like our God who loves us. Not only did I feel it set the tone, but it caused me to reflect on my own experience as a counselor. The biggest hurdle a counselee has to coming to counseling, is a fear that their story is too horrible, too much, or too irredeemable to be heard. Hussung addresses these concerns in his writing showing the reader how to attend to our counselees in a way that we reflect the "unfazed and undeterred" qualities of a loving God. Also "Learning to Listen" shows how much a counselor can draw out from a client by learning the different nuances to listening. Hussung teaches the reader not only to learn to pick up on subtleties of the counselee's words, but also how to actively listen, to use reflection, and how to respond to the various pain and suffering our counselees present. New counselors are often concerned about how much scripture they know, when to apply it, which interventions they should use, and what they should say. But, in "Learning to Listen" the reader learns that "listening" is more than just sitting quietly. They learn that they have the skills within them to be an excellent counselor that does not require long hours of study and memorization. As the Counseling Director of a local church counseling ministry, I will be adding this to our counselor's library that is available to our lay, undergrad interns, and graduate intern counselors. Also, our pastors, and ministry staff have access to this library as well. Also, as the site supervisor of the undergrad interns, I will be asking them to read "Learning to Listen" as part of their internship. "Learning to listen" is a new favorite for teaching skills to new counselors as well as a book I will continue to revisit to make sure that I do not stray from the listening skills our loving God has modeled for us.
Learning to Listen has enriched my inventory of tools for ministry. This book helps by identifying listening skills and then guiding application of them to the person "in front of me" as Jesus would encourage us to. This is a well developed resource and a good "go to" when navigating the counseling relationship.
This book emphasizes the powerful role of listening in building meaningful relationships. It argues that to love others well, we must first learn to listen well. As human beings, we are made to be seen and known by both God and each other, yet many of us struggle with being truly understood. Through a biblical perspective, the book highlights how God, who listens to us with care and attention, serves as our ultimate model for listening. It offers practical steps for cultivating this skill, encouraging us to not only listen attentively but to engage in communication that reflects Christ's love. In today's fast-paced culture, where people often speak without truly listening, the art of understanding others has been lost. To communicate with love, we must listen deeply enough to understand the other person before offering our words. Listening is a discipline that requires intentionality, but this book shows that with practice, it can transform our relationships. By truly hearing others, we can make them feel seen and valued, creating opportunities to speak life and encouragement into their lives. This book is a timely and important guide to restoring the art of listening in a world that desperately needs it.
This is a very helpful book for counselors, but anyone who wants to love and listen like Jesus needs to read this book! Dr. Joseph Hussung laid a biblically strong foundation for why we need to listen well, how sin has affected our listening, and how to grow our listening skills. Although the chapters are short (helpful!), they are full of biblical truths, practical advice, and examples to help us apply the concepts. As a counselor who has been counseling for many years, I found this book to be a good refresher with the sections on reflection and confrontation especially helpful.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A Must-Read on the Art of Listening "Learning to Listen" by Joseph Hussung is a deeply insightful book that challenges the way we approach conversations in counseling. Rather than merely hearing words, Hussung teaches the true art of listening—beginning with a rich theology of God as a listener and then exploring the heart of Christ as the ultimate model of a compassionate listener. What stood out most to me was how practical this book is. The case studies and real-life examples from Hussung’s own counseling experiences were both relatable and thought-provoking. They prompted me to reflect on my own counseling, making it easy to apply the truths from this book to real-life conversations. As someone who trains biblical counselors, this book will now be a key part of my training list. And as someone who has counseled for years, I was personally challenged and convicted to listen more and talk less. This book would be especially valuable for anyone in ministry, counseling, or leadership, but truly, it’s for anyone who wants to deepen their ability to listen and, in doing so, draw people closer to Christ. If you’ve ever felt unheard—or realized you struggle to truly listen—this book is a must-read. Highly recommend!