EMPATHY CNS XXX: BASIC SKILLS

WHAT IS EMPATHY? Grasping facts, feelings, and significance of another person’s story. Being able to communicate your accurate perceptions to the other person. Empathy is a cognitive, emotional, and even physical process

OUR BRAINS ARE WIRED FOR EMPATHY Mirror neurons: brain cells that fire when we see another person performing an action Mirror neurons allow babies to mimic facial expressions & behaviors of adults Related to social & emotional intelligence Empathy soothes the recipient’s emotional arousal

EMPATHY IN THE COUNSELING RELATIONSHIP Empathy in counseling is about understanding the facts, the feelings, and the special meaning the client attaches to their story. Carl Rogers’s 3 core conditions: empathy, congruence, unconditional positive regard Carl Rogers’s definition of empathy: Understanding another person as if you are that person, without losing the as if quality “…[a] complex, demanding, strong, yet subtle and gentle…process…[of] entering the private perceptual world of the other and becoming thoroughly at home with it.”(Rogers, 1975, p.4)

EMPATHY & DIFFERENCES Empathy helps us bridge gaps that result from differences in culture, gender, sexuality, socioeconomic status, race or ethnicity, religion, and other types of differences between client and counselor Tutorial stance: the helper as learner Empathy requires an active effort to let the client know that we are making the effort to understand and feel what it is like to be them, as much as we can Showing you care enough to try is a good first step

WHAT EMPATHY IS NOT Empathy is not supporting or agreeing with a client Empathy is not pretending to understand when you don’t Empathy is not taking on your client’s problems

WHAT EMPATHY IS NOT Empathy is not sympathy Empathy is not a one-time behavior

REFERENCES & ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Rogers, C.R. (1975). Empathic: An unappreciated way of being. The Counseling Psychologist, 5, Young, M.E. (2013). Learning the art of helping: Building blocks and techniques. Boston, MA: Pearson. Carl Rogers on Empathy: Part 1: Part 2: Part 3: Part 4: