Endorsement honors Dr. Clare Biedenharn's SALT® framework, an evidence-informed approach that helps nurses and caregivers heal from burnout by rediscovering meaning through compassionate presence
Deerfield Beach, FL - The Watson Caring Science Institute (WCSI) is honored to announce its formal endorsement of Your Listening Partner, a program founded by Dr. Clare Biedenharn that helps people experience the healing power of being deeply heard. This endorsement affirms Your Listening Partner as a vital extension of Watson’s Caring Science, one that translates its philosophy into everyday practice and equips nurses, healthcare leaders, clergy, and caregivers to cultivate the presence at the heart of caring.
Your Listening Partner rests on a simple yet transformative conviction: every person deserves to be fully seen, heard, and valued. Inspired by Dr. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring, the program treats authentic presence and compassionate listening not as communication techniques but as sacred practices that nurture healing, resilience, and human flourishing. Rather than offering solutions or directing another person’s journey, a Listening Partner creates a safe, reflective space where individuals can reconnect with their own inner wisdom and discover their next faithful step.
At the center of the work is the SALT® framework: Smile, Ask, Listen, Trust (Try Again). A practical method for putting Caring Science into action. Smiling conveys welcome and psychological safety. Asking open, honest questions invites genuine exploration rather than judgment. Listening with full attention honors the whole person’s mind, body, and spirit. Trusting the process reflects confidence in each person’s capacity for growth and healing. Together, these steps mirror the 10 Caritas Processes®, cultivating relationships grounded in loving-kindness, respect, curiosity, compassion, and hope.
The relationship between WCSI and Your Listening Partner is rooted in shared origin and long mentorship. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring became a foundational framework for Dr. Biedenharn’s doctoral research on intentional listening more than a decade ago. When Dr. Biedenharn first reached out to Dr. Watson in 2012 while designing her study, it began an enduring friendship. Dr. Watson went on to write the foreword to Dr. Biedenharn’s book, Heart to Heart: Spiritual Care through Deep Listening, and later recommended the journal that ultimately published the research, Holistic Nursing Practice, opening the door for this work to reach a far broader audience.
Nurses are the backbone of every healthcare organization, and too many are carrying burnout, moral distress, and the quiet grief that comes with a life of service. When someone is deeply heard, something shifts. They reconnect with the love and passion that first called them to nursing, and they rediscover joy in the work. To be endorsed by the Watson Caring Science Institute affirms what I have witnessed again and again, that listening with our hearts can restore both the caregiver and the one receiving care.
Nurses are the backbone of every healthcare organization, and too many are carrying burnout, moral distress, and the quiet grief that comes with a life of service. When someone is deeply heard, something shifts. They reconnect with the love and passion that first called them to nursing, and they rediscover joy in the work. To be endorsed by the Watson Caring Science Institute affirms what I have witnessed again and again, that listening with our hearts can restore both the caregiver and the one receiving care.The approach is supported by research Dr. Biedenharn published in Holistic Nursing Practice. Nurses who integrated these deep listening practices reported stronger connections with patients, renewed professional meaning, greater inner peace, and increased spiritual awareness, while patients experienced being known as individuals rather than diagnoses. The findings resonate with what WCSI calls the transpersonal caring moment, a meeting between two human beings in which authentic presence itself becomes the medium of healing.
Nurses are the backbone of every healthcare organization, and too many are carrying burnout,
moral distress, and the quiet grief that comes with a life of service. When someone is deeply heard, something shifts. They reconnect with the love and passion that first called them to nursing, and they rediscover joy in the work. To be endorsed by the Watson Caring Science Institute affirms what I have witnessed again and again, that listening with our hearts can restore both the caregiver and the one receiving care.
moral distress, and the quiet grief that comes with a life of service. When someone is deeply heard, something shifts. They reconnect with the love and passion that first called them to nursing, and they rediscover joy in the work. To be endorsed by the Watson Caring Science Institute affirms what I have witnessed again and again, that listening with our hearts can restore both the caregiver and the one receiving care. Dr. Biedenharn’s books, Heart to Heart: Spiritual Care through Deep Listening and Reflect, Reconnect, Restore: Healing from Secondary Grief, are available through the WCSI Caring Store.
Through this endorsement, WCSI and Your Listening Partner affirm a shared commitment to restoring meaningful human connection to the experience of care. As healthcare continues to face burnout and rising complexity, they extend the vision of Caring Science beyond the bedside and into healthcare organizations, faith communities, leadership development, and everyday relationships thus cultivating healing through presence one conversation at a time.
ENDS
About Your Listening Partner: Founded by Dr. Clare Biedenharn, helps people experience the healing power of being deeply heard. Grounded in Dr. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring and the Quaker listening tradition, the program translates Caring Science into everyday practice through the SALT® framework—Smile, Ask, Listen, Trust (Try Again). It equips nurses, healthcare leaders, clergy, and caregivers with practical, evidence-informed tools to cultivate presence, deepen relationships, and create environments where healing can occur. For more information, please visit: yourlisteningpartner.com.
About Watson Caring Science Institute (WCSI): is an international non-profit organization that advances the philosophies, theories, and practices of Human Caring/Caring Science, founded by Jean Watson, Ph.D., RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, LL (AAN), WCSI’s Founder & Director. Focusing on research, education, praxis, leadership, and legacy, the institute aims to widen the development and understanding of Watson’s Caring Science to inform our notion of quality care and healing environments through various educational programs, nurse scientific research, partnerships, events, and affiliations. For more information, please visit: www.watsoncaringscience.org.
Share this Page