If the power of listening is immense, that of the word is indisputable. We long to be heard especially when we suffer. We need it as the thirsty deer seeks water. We seek to listen and wait for the word: the opportune, comprehensive, adequate word, the one that sustains and, where appropriate, guides, illuminates, comforts, consoles. These pages delve into the ethical dimension of listening, linked to the world of virtues, not just communication techniques. And they explore the exciting challenge of consolation, for some a reviled, archaic, outdated concept. Here, instead, we get on the rescue movement of the importance and nobility of the objective and willingness to comfort the afflicted. The consolation that opens to hope is a modality of humanized care. This book is for those who want to alleviate the suffering of others. They may be those who are expressly interested in counselling, but also for professionals in health, psychology, social and spiritual intervention, for anyone looking for a way to explore the magnitude, power and nature of listening, the use of the word and consolation.

José Carlos Bermejo is a Camilo Religious, doctor in health pastoral theology and master's degree in bioethics and counselling, he is a professor at the Ramón Lull University of Barcelona and the Catholic University of Portugal. He has published about sixty books related to humanization. He directs the San Camilo Center in Tres Cantos -Madrid- (www.humanizar.es), the Center for the Humanization of Health and the Assistance Center for the elderly and palliative care, and is the director of various postgraduate programs on counseling, mourning, management, etc.