Listening is central to mental health practice. However, there is limited empirical research that informs our understanding of what listening is and how listening practices are performed. This study aimed to unpack how practitioners’ listening practices were actually conceptualized, understood, and deployed. Twenty-four mental health practitioners working in community and inpatient settings from Sydney Local Health District were recruited using purposive sampling. A semi-structured interview guide was utilized to explore listening practices. Interviews were recorded and transcribed using Microsoft Teams. Template thematic analysis was employed to analyse data. Two topic summaries emerged: understanding and practicing listening. Themes developed comprise how competencies in cultural adaptation and epistemic justice, as well as more direct ways of working by listening to learn, applying a multi-modal listening approach, and integrating virtue ethics into listening practices, can enable better listening practices. Listening is defined as a cognitive, action-orientated, and relational skill. However, this understanding is limited and excludes listening as a situated activity shaped by broader structures. Listening to learn, a multimodal approach to listening and virtue ethics may safeguard the integrity of the therapeutic relationship, enable practitioners to meet the ends of their profession, and achieve better outcomes.