Saturday, March 17, 2007

Empathy


What is Empathy?

Empathy means recognizing emotions in others. It is the capacity to put yourself in another person’s shoes and understand how they view their reality and how they feel about things.

Empathy is more than just listening; it is also responding.

The keys to empathy are as follows:

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes.

Pay attention to your own feeling. Listen to the person’s words and tone of voice, and pay attention to his/her body language.

Pay attention to your own feelings as you observe the other person…
Put these feelings into words, keeping the focus on the other person.
Keep it simple and use your own words..

Why Should I learn to be more empathic?

Being aware of our emotions and how they affect our actions is a key component to a successful relationship. It is also a fundamental ability in today’s people intense-workplaces. People who are cut off from their emotions are unable to connect with people. It’s as if they become emotionally tone-deaf. Because how these people affect others is not well known, nobody wants to be around them. You have probably met a few people who fit this description.

Becoming an empathic listener has many benefits. Here are the most important ones.

• Keeping the focus on the other person’s feelings encourages him/her to open up and talk to you. When we feel strong emotions (good or bad), it feels good to have another person listen to us and encourage us to talk about it.
• When you respond empathically, you show the other person that you are paying attention and that you care. This always feels good and helps build trust.
• When a person is upset, being listened to and understood has a calming effect.
• As you practice understanding other people, you will learn that almost everyones point of view can be understood if you take the time to pay attention.
• Your empathic response can help the other person better understand his/her own situation. Sometimes when people are really listening to us they tell us things that we couldn’t see for ourselves.

How Can I learn to be more empathic?

Almost any conversation offers to be empathic. Pay attention to the emotional content of any interaction; you will probably see a chance to respond empathically. Keep in mind that your response doesn’t have to be perfect. If you guess wrong about the other persons feelings, he/she will tell you. The important thing is to listen closely and reflect back what you observe, keeping the focus on the persons emotions.

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