[antics9]

As someone already said, firstly: STFU, be attentive and listen.

You need to understand when it is a one way or two way communication.

When the other person is having a monologue and is sharing something concerning to them, or even just some neutral event that happened during the day, you just listen attentively like you would when listening to someone reading a book for you. Then you stay within a "tell me more" response.

When the situation requires a dialogue, however, you stay within the proximity of shared experiences. Here you don't venture into advice space unless the other part explicitly requests that.

[gepiti]

Many years ago a plane crash killed many residents of a Swiss village. The government sent a Psychologist to assist with the mourning and loss but nobody wanted to talk to him. However, everybody accepted the village Priest in their homes. So the Psychologist asked the Priest: "What do you tell them?" and the answer was "Nothing. I just sit there with them in silence".