MEANING OF EMPATHY

 ability to put oneself into another ‘s shoes.

 Empathy is “feeling into”, seeing how it is through
another's eyes.
 Capacity to recognize
 Try to project oneself in another person’s situation and
attempt to visualize his feelings as he may be feeling
 It involves experiencing the feelings of another
without losing ones own identity.
 Difference between empathy,
pity,sympathy….
 Pity is “ things are bad for you, you seem you need
help”
 Sympathy is “I’m sorry for your sadness. I wish to help”
 Emotional contagion is “You feel sad and now I feel
sad”
 Apathy is “ I don’t care how you feel”
 Empathy is “I recognize how you feel”.
Benefits of Empathic Listening
 It builds trust
 It develops respect
 It enables the person to release their emotions
 It helps in reducing the tension
 Encourages the individual
 Develops a safe environment
 Collaborative problem solving
 How to listen with empathy
 Allow the other person to talk more
 Show the attentiveness in listening to his problem by
both verbal and non verbal manners
 Ensure that that’s not for gossiping
 Utmost care in not interrupting as well as interpreting
 Use open ended questions so that it will be leading
questions to talk more from his side
 Respect the other person
 Sensitivity to the emotions being expressed
 Reflection of the same emotions
 Importance of Empathy
 Empathy refers to a person's understanding of and
sensitivity to other peoples’ feelings, thoughts, and
situations. Studies show the most effective educators
and counselors are Those who can correctly identify
another person’s feelings and communicate this
understanding back to the person, such that he or she
feels understood.
 Empathy can and should be used throughout
education sessions.
Some of the things that make it difficult to feel empathy
towards another person are:
 Lack of interest
 Inattentiveness
 Lack of respect
The key elements of empathy as
a skill
 We must separate our responses from those of the person
we are empathizing.
 Retain objectivity and distance
 Be alert to cues about feelings offered to us by the other
person.
 Communicate to people our feeling for them and our
understanding of their situations.
Success of effective communication
 Stop talking. Always remember that if you are talking, than
you are not listening.
 Ask questions
 Using “mms” and “ahs” to encourage them.
 Maintain good eye contact.
 Display attentive and welcoming body language.
 Empathy Blockers
 Domination
 Manipulation
 DisEmpowerment
 Denial
 Domination
 Threatening: “Do it or else”
 Ordering: “Don’t ask me why, just do it because I said so”
 Criticizing: “You don’t work hard enough”; “You’re always
complaining”
 Name-Calling: “Only an idiot would say that”; “You’re
neurotic”
 Should or ought: “You shouldn’t be so angry”; “You ought to
face facts”
 Manipulation
 Withholding Relevant Information: “If you knew the “big
picture” you would see it differently”
 Interrogating (micro-managing): “How many hours did
this take you?” “What are you doing now?”
 Praising to manipulate: “You are so good at report writing, I
would like you do this one.”
 Disempowerment
 Diagnosing motives: “You are very possessive”;
“You have always had a problem with time
management”
 Untimely advice: “Why didn’t you do it this way?”
 Changing the topic: “Yes it is a worry…by the way,
did I tell you I applied for a new job?”
 Persuading with logic: “There’s nothing to be upset
about. It’s all quite reasonable…we just do
this…than we do that…”
 Denial
 Refusing to address the issue: “There is
nothing to discuss as I cannot see any
problem.”

 Reassuring: “Don’t be nervous”; “Don’t worry

it will work out”; “You will be fine”
 Important
 Always remember that people in trouble want to be
reassured and we want to give that reassurance.
 However “ everything will be alright” approach is not a
help. It may actually shake the confidence as everyone
knows that everything may not be alright.
 The kind of reassurance that people in difficulty need
is not meaningless comfort that the problem will take
care of itself, but rather our statement of faith that
they will be strong enough to work it out even if it is
not alright.
 Respond Never react