I would have learned to listen.

~ Jason Schwartz
Listen, Understand, Act
Listen, Understand, Act (Photo credit: highersights)

Drugfree.org has a great post from a parent who’s been through the wringer and is speaking from the other side.

When speaking with a struggling parent, she asked him what he wishes he would have done differently. He responds

I would have learned to listen.

First, I would have learned to listen to my son. …

I would have also learned to listen to counselors and parents. …

I would have learned to listen to my own internal struggles about what I am told….

Finally, I would have learned to listen to my heart and my head.

Please go to his post and read his discussion of each of these. It’s a great post.

Published by Jason Schwartz

I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I no longer work at Dawn Farm and am now the Director of Behavioral Medicine at a community hospital, and a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work. Views expressed here are my own. Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.