The Importance of Listening

I've been reading We Really Need to Talk: Steps to Better Communication by Paul j. Donoghue, Ph.D. and Mary E. Siegel, Ph.D.

They remind us of the importance of truly listening to others:

So why don't you share yourself? Why don't you voice what you are feeling and needing and make yourself truly visible to the persons in your life with whom you would like to be close? When we ask this question at our communication workshops, the answer most frequently given, whether by spouses, professionals, business people, or students, is "I don't share because I don't think he/she/they would listen." It seems that people would reveal themselves if they trusted that they would be understood. But, fearing that by being transparent they would open themselves to rejection, advice, or misunderstanding, they keep what is within them hidden, sometimes even from themselves. . . So if you want others to be open with you, don't nag them; learn to listen.