Empathy: An Important P. R. I. D.

What is empathy? Are you an empathic person? Skillsyouneed.com defines empathy, at its simplest, awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people. It is a key element of emotional intelligence, the link between self and others because it is how we, as individuals, understand what others are experiencing as if we were feeling it ourselves. This powerful force imbedded inside human being can be very meaningful to people of all ages, genders, and races. Empathy is very important in the healthcare because it promotes understanding others, caring for others, and feeling a sense of achievement.

Empathy is the ability to understand another person's viewpoint, to recognise and experience their feelings, and to be aware and understanding of their thoughts, from their perspective. When we are empathetic we allow ourselves to understand others and the intentions of others. Empathy requires that we connect with them and allows us to build a relationship with that person therefore empathy is also one of the most important forms of communication. By using empathy we are able to communicate better. Developing an empathic approach allows us to improve our communication skills. We can assume that when we take the time to understand

Paul Bloom, author of Against Empathy, a psychologist and professor at Yale, states in a video summary of his book made for The Atlantic states that, “Empathy is fundamentally, from a moral standpoint, a bad thing; it makes the world worse.” This is a very bold statement to take against an emotion. Empathy, as commonly defined, is the neurological ability to feel what someone else is feeling; to imagine not only how someone else feels, but to imagine yourself literally standing in their feet as if you were them. He states that, “While we’ve been taught that putting yourself in another’s shoes cultivates compassion, it actually blinds you to the long-term consequences to your actions” (Bloom, The New Yorker). Caring too much

From close family, to friends, to acquaintances, to teachers, it is something that is important and critical that I am considerate of others feelings. An example of empathy in my life is between my sister and I. My sister, Zoe and I have a great relationship, she is my very best friend. But, she is an extremely busy best friend! Her being a senior, she has a large amount of work to do! She works at her job, works on her Odyssey, applies for colleges, does homework, finds herself vegan meals, drives me places, the list could go on! At times I make the mistake of not giving her the empathy she deserves because I can get upset about her not spending enough time with me. It is a selfish action when I do that, and have to continue to learn and understand she has work to get done, and friends to spend time with as well. Lately, I’ve been working hard on not giving her a hard time and really putting myself in her shoes. I imagined myself in her shoes and visioned a chaotic mess! I’m proud she is handling the stress so well, and maintaining a good relationship with me, her friends, and herself. It’s important I am empathetic of her situation in life right now, and spend the time I can get with her happily, because soon she’s off the college. Empathy plays a huge role of my friendships and relationships. My dad always enjoys to remind me how proud he is of

While in most circumstances, empathy is a crucial tool in understanding the patient and their problems, there is also a distinct line drawn between the appropriate amount of empathy and going overboard. Healthcare professionals should be aware that while empathy is an important factor of their jobs, it is just as important to not become emotionally involved in patients’ lives. A careful balancing act is needed in order to sustain the appropriate level of empathy without letting the emotional rollercoasters of patient lives interfere with the work and personal life of the healthcare professional.

"Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another. " - Alfred Adler. It's important to be empathetic but their are risks associated with it. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee explores this in many situations and examples.

We talk a lot about empathy at Moz, and that’s because the value of empathy cannot be overstated — in marketing or in life. Empathy is a super power. Dr. Brené Brown describes that super power as “feeling with people,” and it creates a spark of connection for the person being empathized with. That spark can be fanned into the burning passion

Although there are many aspects of the counseling relationship, the most important of these aspects is empathy. Empathy is the ability to truly comprehend the feelings of the client (Cormier, 2016). It is a true connection with the client that is real with a genuine desire to help the client. Empathy is almost an automatic emotion that some people possess, however a deeper understanding of the client goes beyond empathy is the principle of care, which is a higher cognitive function (Wilhelm, 2010). The principle of care is a more professionally trained form of empathy; utilizing a cognitive process of purposeful assessment of a client’s situation that adheres to a higher moral standard (Wilhelm, 2010). However, when the counselor does have

With a great point to start off from, Cooper talks on research’s importance as something that gives this amazingly rounder concept of the working world, inner workings of our minds and depth to the complexity of the human condition. And, it comes with a catch. Trusting the skepticism of science and be skeptical of yourself and research, self-critical and to the best of knowledge just humble in the workings of science. It is not a toy to wave around all willy nilly. The talk on empathy especially got me as an individual who has went through a lot of stuff as well. When I become a counselor, say I have a gentleman that comes into my office who has an amazing career as a headliner in the best drag queen bars in Chicago. There is not a way I would be able to understand what his experience in life is like unless I use the power of conversation (more so science). Or, becoming a headline drag queen myself. Why is empathy such a difficult skill to teach or wrap around? Counselors are people who have to constantly collect data on feelings, thoughts, behaviors, aptitudes and

Empathy is the ability to understand the situation and share the feelings and also be able to identify a client's experiences. A counsellor must be able to imagine how it feels to be in a client's shoes and manage to understand the situation from their point of view. "Empathy has been described in different ways: walking in another's shoes, entering into another person's frame of reference or having the ability to experience life as the other person does by entering the person's world of thoughts, feelings, emotions and meanings", (Martha,2012) .In the other hand, the good counsellor still have the ability to be understanding even though the they are not agree with the client's perspective in order to solve the client's issues effectively.

The film on empathy was very touching. I would strongly urge everyone to share this video to have others reflect on its message. I learned that in order to be truly successful in the healthcare industry, or any industry for that matter that directly deals with communicating with customers and/or patients, you must display compassion and genuine care. This film really makes you consider how you empathize in your everyday life and what you can do differently.

Empathy is simply a noun with three syllables. However, I believe having this quality is an essential in being a health care professional. To me, empathy doesn’t simply mean being able to understand the feelings of another. Empathy entails emotionally stepping into the shoes of an individual, and syncing their feelings into your own. Being empathetic allows for us to establish bonds of trust between one another, giving us insights as to what we are feeling, and ultimately contributing towards decision making. As much as I would like to say I was born with this trait, I acquired this trait later on in my life, however it was definitely was worth cultivating. During my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I volunteered at The First Church

In the healthcare field, empathy is an essential trait. Without empathy, patients can get depressed and lose sight of their end goal. The image above illustrates how a patient is treated with facial expression of the individuals and cropping of the image. “The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy," (Streep). Empathy is, in fact, so powerful that it has given strength to the weak and lack of empathy has weakened the strong. In a world full of blatant good versus evil and where terror and conflict are unceasing, one must remain empathetic.

Many people with complex identities exist in society. There are also other people, who, if had a rough history with a “complex” person, can heal their relationship through empathy. In the short story, “Thank you, Ma’am, by Langston Hughes, Mrs. Luella Bates Jones creates a healthy relationship with Rogers, a poor boy who does not have any discernment over what is right or wrong. In the movie, Inside Out, Joy, the personification of actual happiness, mends her relationship with Sadness(also the personification of the emotion), and through that, heals Riley’s relationship with her parents. Benedick, from the play, Much Ado About Nothing by none other than William Shakespeare, heals a couple of relationships such as one with Claudio and another with Don Pedro. In healing broken relationships, Joy, Benedick, and Mrs. Jones use empathy and understanding to better relate to others.

I came into this class with a general knowledge of what empathy is and its importance in the therapeutic process. However, from the very beginning I have been challenged not only in what I know about connecting with a client, but how much room I have for growth in this area. Of the many things I have learned in this class, three stand out as the most important: the complexity yet simplicity of empathy, how strong the link is between my faith and my capacity to empathize, and how to effectively notice and grow through biases and prejudices in myself which negatively impact my ability to empathize.