Staylistening is a tool popularized by Hand In Hand Parenting, and is the practice of staying with, and listening as your child expresses big emotions. Your calm and empathetic presence is a container that makes them feel safe enough to release their emotions, as tears, sweating, shaking, and physical action.
At the bottom of the emotional pile is usually sadness, and free and full crying is extremely effective emotional release. Often, however, sadness may be fiercely protected by anger, and your child's first expression may look like a tantrum, or – even more difficult - attacks on you, a sibling, or others.
Your main task during a staylisten is to try to activate your empathy, keep yourself calm and not reacting to any triggers, to keep everybody safe (eg. hold your child or keep your distance if they're lashing out), and be a listening and accepting presence. You can occasionally make soothing sounds or comments, but primarily your are listening as your child rides the wave of their emotion.
Please know, if you are new to accepting emotions and staylistening, the first times you try it may be very confusing. Your child may have a lot of pent up emotion that comes out as anger, and you may feel confused and triggered, until you've been through it enough times to trust the process. Hand in Hand Parenting a great resource for teaching this tool.