What is reflective listening primarily focused on?

Reflective listening is primarily centered on summarizing what the speaker has conveyed, which helps to confirm understanding and demonstrates to the speaker that their message has been heard and considered. This technique involves reflecting back the essence of the speaker’s thoughts, feelings, or intentions, thereby validating their experience.

By summarizing, the listener creates an environment of empathy and support, facilitating a deeper exchange of ideas. This approach enables the speaker to feel acknowledged and encourages further dialogue, as it allows them to elaborate or clarify their points, if needed.

The other choices involve approaches that do not foster the same empathetic connection. Making assumptions about the speaker's feelings can lead to misunderstandings and may not accurately represent the speaker's perspective. Providing counterarguments shifts the focus to disputing what has been said instead of understanding it. Asking clarifying questions is a useful strategy but does not encompass the main goal of reflective listening, which is to summarize and reflect the speaker’s message back to them.