Contemplative Listening: A Rhetorical-Critical Approach To Facilitate Internal Dialog

This article presents a discussion technique that is tailored to clients needing to reorient their convictions following a critical life event. The technique has three distinctive characteristics. The client’s statements are not classified into categories from conventional layer models that are designed to track the themes or content of talk. Instead, we adopt a rhetorical approach because of the fundamental metaphysical nature of conviction that this article assumes. The primary focus is on how clients talk about themselves and their convictions. This focus allows the professional to support clients in their personal work. The technique is a tool that professionals can use during the discussion to monitor whether they themselves are in fact doing what they promised the client they would do. Finally, the technique is a third way, alongside a kerygmatic and therapeutic approach, in which chaplains can conduct discussions. The terminology it employs can be used as a common language for much of the work carried out by chaplains from different philosophical backgrounds.