In emergency communications, the term used for identifying and naming the caller's emotions as part of active listening is which term?

• A. Paraphrasing
• B. Reflective listening
• C. Listening for cues
• D. Emotional labeling

Answer: (D)

Emotional labeling is the act of identifying and naming the caller’s emotions as part of active listening. In emergency communications, labeling what the caller is feeling—like saying, “It sounds like you’re scared” or “You’re frustrated right now”—helps validate their emotions, calms the situation, and makes them more likely to share accurate details. This differs from paraphrasing, which focuses on restating what was said in your own words, and from listening for cues, which is about noticing emotions without explicitly naming them. Reflective listening can involve echoing back both content and emotion, but the specific term for naming the emotion is emotional labeling, which is why it’s the best fit here.