listening in the raw
Listening in the Raw: Coming Home to Receptivity
by Randall Alifano, PH.D., OM
Dr. Randall Alifano brings his decades of experience to this beautiful exploration of what it truly means to listen. Through heartfelt stories, he shares what he’s learned over the years, not only as a counselor, but also as a friend, a father, a son, and a partner. He skillfully examines many of the impediments we encounter while listening and offers remedies to them, and he helps us navigate our own inner worlds while also learning the tools of outer communication.
In this book, Dr. Alifano explores how to:
- Listen from a place of curiosity and love
- Examine your filters so they don’t get in the way of listening
- Empty yourself of intentions when listening
- Listen to what is underneath what’s being spoken
- Tap back into your innocence and reignite your curiosity
- Deeply empathize with another while listening
- Expand your sense of self through connection with another
This book is for anyone looking to increase their capacity to listen, communicate more effectively, and connect more deeply with others and oneself. It is an intimate journey to find what is at the core of both ourselves and others, unfiltered, vulnerable, and raw.
We are all aching to be heard. We are all aching to connect. Our first step is to learn to Listen in the Raw.
Extraordinarily fine book
“Dr. Alifano’s Listening in the Raw is an extraordinarily fine book; unusual in its scope, insight, and compassion. It explores the profound meanings and valuable possibilities of deep listening, and could only have been written by someone with broad experience, a subtle and unique understanding of human nature, a philosophical turn of mind, and a capacity to be both uncompromising and deeply empathic. A tender, wise, helpful perspective.”
Robert Cantor, Ph.D., Former Associate Professor, University of California – San Francisco, Author of “A Time To Live”, “The Work of Mourning”, “Of Struggle& Flight”
Extremely Captivating & Insightful, A Must-Read For Everyone
“Illuminating and instructive, Listening in the Raw offers a richly complex exploration of inner awareness as well as outer communication tools. With his focus on identifying our deepest longings and recognizing our earliest patterns of self-protectiveness, Randall Alifano guides readers on a genuinely restorative and transformative journey.”
Elizabeth Rosner, author of “Survivor Café: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory“
Alifano reveals how to cultivate a way of listening
“Dr. Randall Alifano’s perspective on listening is radical and ground-breaking. Listening in the Raw not only offers us the possibility of growing our capacity to listen, which enhances and deepens our conversations, relationships, and connections but also provides a means to radically transform ourselves.
Through poignant heartfelt stories, beautiful prose, and clear elucidation of what real listening entails, Alifano reveals how to cultivate a way of listening that is both, illuminating and a support for profound well-being of ourselves and others.
This is not just an excellent guide for psychotherapists, coaches, and those in the helping professions, but for those wanting to deepen the art of what it truly means to hear another and to profoundly deepen the capacity to disidentify from our limiting filters and connect more intimately and effectively. Listening in the Raw demonstrates that true listening is a meditation.
For anybody wishing to know how to listen and communicate more effectively, I highly recommend this book.”
Mark Coleman, Author of “A Field Guide to Nature Meditation and Awake in the Wild”
A roadmap to the heart of connection
“Listening in the Raw is a roadmap to the heart of connection. With eloquence, humor, intelligence, and a gentle dash of dare, Dr. Alifano asks us to courageously drop our protective strategies, recognize our filters and perceptions, and open ourselves to the infinite wonder of life if we allow ourselves to drop into the felt sense of being intimately connected with another. This will undoubtedly transform our experience of each other and the world. The quality of listening Dr. Alifano describes will move you to the core and will change the very nature of how you relate. Listening in the Raw should be in every counseling and therapy program, and on the bookshelves of every parent, teacher, partner, and human.”
Davida Taurek, LPCC, Counselor, Educator, Founder & Clinical Director of Courageous Counseling Center
Extremely Captivating & Insightful, A Must-Read For EveryoneExtremely Captivating & Insightful, A Must-Read For Everyone
“I highly recommend this book for everyone. It’s extremely insightful & educational, and the way that Randall Alifano writes/teaches in this book will have you hooked on every last word. The thing I loved the most is how he explores the nuances of everyday situations & experiences that greatly impacts how you feel heard as well as how you listen to others. He provides you with the wisdom of explanations for how your impacted by those events, & he provides you with the guidance to combat those filters & be more present through listening. You won’t regret buying this book, I can’t recommend it enough!”
Roz
Excellent book for anyone who wants the ability to communicate better
“Excellent book for anyone who wants the ability to communicate better. I highly recommend Listening in the Raw to everyone, especially parents who wish to be a better Mom or Dad. Dr. Alifano has perfected the art of listening to truly allow you to better understand what your children, friends, clients, loved ones, etc. are trying to communicate to you. I found his book to be thought provoking, insightful, and genius. I taught Interview & Interrogation nationally for over 15 years and am a Personal Coach. Dr. Alifano’s book taught me things I was not aware of. His vast knowledge and personal experiences shared throughout the book guide you to a higher level of interpreting what the speaker is saying. He teaches you how to listen in a way where you get what they are communicating in a clearer and deeper way. This allows you to respond in a way that nurtures them and makes them more receptive to the information you want them to receive.
Adding the lessons and strategies from Listening in the Raw that Dr. Alifano lays out to my own knowledge, tools, and strategies has helped me help my clients and loved ones at a higher and more efficient level. Bravo on writing such an exceptional book that everyone can benefit from.”
Rich 39
This book is calling to you, grab it!
“Loved this. We all want to feel heard and be understood, yet the frantic pace of modern life keeps many of us busy or distracted despite our best intentions. Listening in the Raw reveals the value of making time, sitting in the unknown, and staying curious. In fact, Dr. Alifano’s lived experience and entertaining stories may make you rethink any previous training you’ve had on the subject. Highly recommend sharing with a close friend or group to inspire deeper conversation and most importantly, real connection.”
Barbara Anchore
Deep and intentional
“Dr. Alifano’s book is an absolute must read for any helping professional seeking to create a space of sanctuary and refuge for another’s suffering. It is also for anyone seeking to go to new depths in their relational life and open to the complicated beauty and truth of what it means to be fully human. What a gift!”
S. Taylor
Transformational read
“If Listening in the raw was read and integrated into daily practice by even a small percentage of people on the planet, we would be living in a much kinder and more connected world. This book has not only shifted the way I communicate with the people in my life, it has fundamentally shifted my orientation in relating. I highly recommend this book for every Human. It is not only a practical guide on how to listen without filters, the heartfelt receptivity from which Dr. Alifano’s words arise, make it both a practical and spiritual read. One that has the potential to create transformation in us, our relationships, and in our world.”
Amrit