Life Transformations Wellness Coaching in Lee’s Summit has some thoughts to share on empathy. What is empathy, have you heard of it, do you know the answer? Well, it is how you look at the world and people’s emotions.
Empathy is the ability to sense other people’s emotions, combined with the ability to imagine what someone else
might be thinking or feeling.
According to yourdictionary.com, Often confused with sympathy, empathy actually requires perspective-taking. When you are being empathetic, you are doing more than feeling sorry for another person; you are actually trying to imagine the situation from that person’s point of view.
Below are three different types of empathy, it is possible to have more than one type at a time:
Emotional empathy – When you feel something because someone else does, this is
emotional empathy. You may have noticed this when you cried watching a very sad scene in a movie.
Cognitive empathy – Involving thinking more than feeling, cognitive empathy means putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. When you talk to a friend about something that is bothering you and feel understood by that person, it’s often because your friend was using cognitive empathy.
Compassionate empathy – This is any kind of empathy that leads to action. When you see someone in need and offer that person food or money, that is compassionate empathy.
Take a minute to think to yourself, “Do I have empathy?” Empathy is a great skill to have, it is well used in communication in the workplace, personal relationships, friends, or even strangers. Let’s use the example of a co-worker had a flat tire on the way to work and was late. What would be your response?
That’s too bad, sorry you had to go through this. (Empathetic Response)
I guess you should have tried to avoid that pothole. (Non empathetic response)
This is just one example to see how you would respond. Below are some common empathetic responses:
- Everything happens for a reason.
- This too shall pass.
- Just look on the bright side.
- I know how you feel.
- They are in a better place now.
- This could be a blessing in disguise.
- Something better is around the corner.
- I wish you didn’t have to go through that.
- I totally agree with you.
- You are making total sense.
- I understand how you feel.
- I just feel such despair in you when you talk about this.
- You are in a tough spot.
- I can feel the pain your feel.
- I support your position here.
- You are feeling so trapped!
- You are making total sense.
- That sounds like you felt really disgusted!
- No wonder you’re upset.
- I’d feel the same way you do in your situation.
Having empathy does not necessarily mean we will want to help someone in need. It is the ability to feel what another person is feeling, from that person’s perspective. Overly empathic people may even lose the ability to know what they want or need. They may not know when to extract themselves from someone else’s shoes, or how.
Recognizing and sharing someone else’s emotional state is an inner experience. It is self-awareness, the ability to distinguish between your own feelings and those of others, the skill to take another’s perspective, the ability to recognize emotions in others as well as oneself, and the know-how to regulate those feelings.
Empathy allows people to build social connections with others. By understanding what people are thinking and feeling, people are able to respond appropriately in social situations.
Empathizing with others helps you learn to regulate your own emotions.
Empathy promotes helping behaviors.
Now that we have covered what is empathy and how do you use it in your life, you may think back to recent situations where you used empathy, or someone was empathetic towards you. So put your empathetic skill to use. Help people feel better when their spirits are down, turn lemons into lemonade.
In Good Spirits,
Molly Wichman
Life Transformations
Wellness Coach
*Liked this blog, check out my other Wellness Blog Posts