The Art of Listening

The Art of Listening is a 1994 book on psychology by the psychoanalyst Erich Fromm. In it, Fromm sets out his therapeutic method for dealing with the psychological suffering of people in contemporary society, and includes many clinical reflections drawn from his work as an analyst.

The book examines the communication between analyst and analysand, in which the analyst presents himself as a human being specially trained in the "art of listening." For Fromm, the art of therapy is essentially the art of listening.

Fromm also suggests that a person's character orientation results from socialization into the shared psychic attitudes of a particular society, so that listening to a patient also means understanding the social framework that shapes how they feel and relate to others.