Empathy Reflection

Most of my professional life to date has focused on working with people with disabilities and in helping them identify and achieve their goals. As an occupational therapist, I had coursework in psychology, but no formal training in counseling. My ability to help my patients reach their highest potential really depended on my professional relationship, or what as therapists we referred to as “therapeutic use of self”. I certainly learned and used specific techniques and assessments over the years to help me achieve better outcomes, but never identified with any specific theory as the framework of my interactions. I recognize there were times when my personality and my skills were a great match and other times when I felt like I just couldn’t figure out the right approach. Thankfully for much of my career, I worked with an interdisciplinary team that included some very skilled psychologists, so I always had the ability to consult.

Empathy gives us as clinicians the ability to understand and connect with the client’s emotions. By building a relationship with a client it gives the clinician a better perspective of the client’s thoughts and feelings. Emotions are not something you can leave at the door and pick up later, it reflects on the individual’s performance. By simply asking how their day is going can create a conversation, this way the client can express themselves and not keep their emotions bottled up. Empathy can be cognitive or emotionally based. Cognitive empathy is being able to know what another person feels and what he/she might be thinking.

I spent endless hours studying psychology books and learning about biochemistry. I discovered that the makeup of an individual was a result of a complex combination of one’s social environment and the composition of one’s brain. All of this self-taught knowledge now only distracted me from the disastrous circumstances around me gave me a clear picture of where my place was in the world; to pursue a career in Mental Health. As unfortunate as the circumstances were, this was the time in my life where I had the opportunity to communicate with families of ailing loved ones and the patients themselves. My passion for interacting and understanding stemmed from my early childhood exposures to people in these types of settings. Instead of isolating myself from the world, these observations didn’t diminish my dream of being a Mental Health Counselor but strengthened it. I instantly gravitated towards listening to other people 's problems and offered suggestions on how to deal. More importantly, I discovered the immense feeling of satisfaction garnered when I was able to support others in need. Considering the positive feedback I received, I was certain that being a Therapist of some kind was what I am suited to do with my life and that it is my calling. Whether it is close friends, family, or just peers, I am constantly willing to lend an ear, now and then. Even if I did not feel adequate proposing

One of my skills I used as a mental health technician is having the ability to listen on multiple levels , this allows me as a technician not only to hear what is said, but how it’s said, why it’s being said, and what it means in the context of that client. I also have a sense of humor, but counselors, I should know how to form a relational connection with someone to the point of developing a shared sense of humor in a therapeutic environment that the client can feel comfortable. Another strength is having patience with my clients as they process our discussion. Using patience can help build a good rapport with clients, and realize it may take them time to accept certain things and to move towards positive changes. Working in the field of behavioral health for 20 years, I work with clients that you need to discuss something many times before they were prepared to make a move in any particular direction. I also understand you are not likely going to see large changes in an individual client; therefore be okay with incremental progress in their lives and rejoice over small

Empathy should play an active role in the daily lives of everyone, but in particular in the day-to-day lives of a healthcare professional. Healthcare professionals have the unique and challenging job of counseling patients in times of need, whether that is in the setting of a newly diagnosed disease or in the death of a family member. This unique challenge requires all healthcare professionals to be skilled at using empathy in the appropriate circumstances.

Empathy and flexibility: I can understand and share the feelings of my clients, and very flexible, to be able to provide warm support

making Practice-Based Learning work Reflection on PRACTICE A resource commissioned by the Making Practice Based Learning Work project, an educational development project funded through FDTL Phase 4 Project Number 174/02 and produced by staff from the University of Ulster. www.practicebasedlearning.org Author Patricia McClure School of Health Sciences, University of Ulster www.practicebasedlearning.org contents Reflection on Practice 02

This reflection will discuss personal diffidence and how it has influenced my academic studies, including my practice within placement settings. Gibbs reflective cycle (Gibbs, 1998) has been utilised as it illustrates a clear structure for the process of reflection. To conclude this reflection will draw together the themes which have emerged and highlight a clear action for future learning that will be used in order to enhance my future practice.

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.

From a young age, I have always been passionate about helping others. In the future, I see myself as a counselor or therapist; a professional that others can rely upon in the community. As an international student, I hope to gain a bigger world view and use my abilities to support others on an international and global scale. One of the most frustrating parts of growing up, is the inability to aid those in need. Witnessing first hand the tragedies many of my close friends had to go through, prompted me to spend many nights researching different coping strategies and related support to help them. When a laugh and a smile became not enough, I made a promise to myself to become someone others could professionally turn to. Taking AP Psychology

These are the skills and competencies I have learned through my studies at Walden University. Kaslow, Grus, Campbell, & Fouad, et al. (2009) stated professionalism comes from my respect for those who need help. Integrity can be built with confidence in the therapist. Attitudes are charitable, polite, caring emotions toward others that fuel my motivation toward helping. This concern welfare of others comes from my religious and personal experiences as a child and young adult.

I feel like all of my strengths were spot on, but the one that I really feel represents me best is the Empathy. I’ve always been able to put myself in other people’s shoes and feel what they may be feeling.

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.

For this reason, I decided to take the time to immerse and surround myself with excellent mentors and enhance my education with field experience. The continued quality of my work placed me in my current position as a partial hospitalization program counselor with Malvern Institute where I work on the same level as Master’s level therapists. I believe the skills I will learn from the instructors who currently work in the field from Widener’s Online Social Work program will enhance my clinical ability with the program’s focus on trauma, along with how individuals function within a community, and how I can further influence such systems. The online capacity also allows me to remain in the field full time, apply what I am learning in real time, and maintain the balance between work and self-care. My once overly confident but insecure personality has transformed over several years of work because learning, and overcoming, the fear of connections with my colleagues and patients allowed me to settle into a comfortable place as I have greater

Social Justice is defined as “the equal distribution of opportunities, rights, and responsibility despite differences in physical traits and/or beliefs and behavior. It is an international and multifaceted issue that fights for better treatment and equality of people.” (“Pachamama Alliance,” 2017). According to this definition, my understanding of social justice is that it is a way to advocate for other individuals in order to assist their needs in society. For example, I would want to advocate for Hispanic mothers and children who have been through abuse. My empathy towards this group started because of my personal history with an abusive father who suffered from alcoholism. “Empathy involves thinking about a person and the challenges he or she is facing and coming to understand what it is like for that person to have that experience.” (Cameron & Keenan, 2013, p. 72).