Dr. Bill Strom studies the art of human communication. The long-time professor and researcher at Trinity Western is also the executive director of a crisis call centre, Telecare Crisis & Caring Line, based in Abbotsford, B.C.
This week, Dr. Strom hosts an online workshop on the topic, “Love Listens: How to listen well to those we love.” This public event is on February 17, 2022, at 7:00 pm, and more details can be found on the Telecare website.
Recovering the lost art of communication
In our digital society, the practice of communication is changing, and, as Dr. Strom notes, we can easily undervalue its importance.
“So often we think, ‘I just need to point my head towards someone; my ears pick up the sound of their voice, and I’m there,’” he said in a recent Telecare interview.
“[However] that’s the beginning—just the beginning—of listening well.”
Dr. Strom observes that modern societies may be becoming communications-poor, “We are losing the art of conversation, and we’re losing the ability to really listen well during those conversations,” he said.
Through this public lecture, Dr. Strom hopes to bless others through sharing information and wisdom on how listening can be a way to help people heal.
“And that’s what caring conversations is all about,” he said.
Those who listen well
As a researcher, Dr. Strom has studied communication within close relationships, such as between two people, married people, best friends, and romantic partners.
Recently, he investigated, what is it about a person that makes them more likely to be an active empathetic listener? For example, could it be one’s personality, moral heart, or attitude?
The results of his work, published in the International Journal of Listening, is titled, “Do Moral Communicators Make Better Listeners? Personality, Virtue and Receiver Apprehension as Predictors of Active Empathetic-Listening” (2020).
See also: The Feb. 17, 2022 "Love Listens" event featured on The Abbotsford News.
About Dr. Bill Strom
Bill Strom (B.A. Wheaton College, M.A. Northern Illinois University, Ph.D. University of Iowa) is professor of media and communication at Trinity Western University, where he teaches relational and leadership communication. His research focuses on virtue and covenant in close relationships and is published in regional, national, and international journals. His faith perspective textbook, More Than Talk: A Covenantal Approach to Everyday Communication (5th ed., 2018, Kendall/Hunt Publishing) and The Relationship Project: Moving from ‘You and Me’ to ‘We’ (The Foundry Publishing, 2014) continue these themes. In 2012 Bill joined Telecare where he has volunteered on the lines, helped train volunteers, and participated on its board. In 2021 he became executive director.
About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
For media inquiries, please contact: media@twu.ca.
Photo by Harli Marten on Unsplash.