SENSITIVE LISTENING AS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL: AN INTEGRATIVE AND INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

This article analyzes sensitive listening as a therapeutic tool, understanding it as an integrative and innovative practice capable of enhancing humanization processes and human development. The research, bibliographic and qualitative in nature, was based on classical authors of scientific methodology and recent studies that highlight the importance of listening in clinical practice, collective health, and educational contexts. The results indicated that sensitive listening strengthens bonds, legitimizes narratives, and promotes re-significations, establishing itself as a soft care technology that expands integrality and fosters autonomy. It was evidenced that this practice transcends the clinical setting, extending to pedagogical and social contexts, where it enables emancipation, authorship, and co-authorship of processes. The analysis also revealed that listening represents innovation by shifting care from the biomedical model to broader approaches capable of integrating cognitive, emotional, relational, and spiritual dimensions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, listening proved essential for dealing with psychological suffering, grief, and anxiety, reinforcing its indispensable character in crisis contexts. It is concluded that sensitive listening not only enriches therapeutic practices but also promotes social transformation by providing spaces for welcoming, dialogue, and validation of human experience.