Unit 2 – Empathy, Transparency and Asking Questions
“Empathy has been defined as the process of entering into the world of another: “an understanding and appreciation of the thoughts, feelings, experiences and circumstances of another human being”, as stated from this weeks lecture. However this is just the tip of the ice burg. Empathy is dynamic, flowing and changing with every circumstance.
Empathy is a huge word that can be broken down into subsection. Some of which were presented to us during our week in Victoria. Combining that experience with these Unit Notes, you will find a comprehensive compellation of a break down of various empathies.
• Emotional Empathy – The expression of another person’s feelings in relation to personal
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situation. (i.e. Can you recall what happen? Or how it made you feel?) • Social Empathy – The revelation of a the relationship between their social context and it’s material impact. (i.e. “What supports are available to you?” (Unit Notes)) • Structural Empathy – The disclosure of another’s situation in relation to socio-structural normalization processes. (“What kind of control have men had over your life?” (Unit Notes)) • Post-structural empathy – The clarification of the discourses through which another constructs their power positions, meanings and behaviours in relation to normalization processes. (i.e. “Where do these beliefs come from?” (Unit Notes)) Gerdes and Segal have done studies on empathy and practice through social-cognitive neuroscience.
What the research proved, was the enrichment of patients and an improved treatment outcomes. Empathy was the key to the success, thus a huge strength surrounding patient care (2011). However, I personally view empathy with many limitations. Epistemological Assumptions are one limitation when practitioners listen with third ears. For example, when a doctor doesn’t listen to the patient, rather, listens to the family or nurses. (2003) Practitioners will sometimes focus on feelings, not meanings. This in its self can be limiting, depending on the issue. If it’s a trauma, moving past the devastation is virtually impossible when focusing on the emotions it brings. Finding meaning in the experience, will allow the patient to heal. (2003). The expert knower, further undermines the patients story by creating superiority over the patient. All of these diminish the client and their experience, further breaking the bond of the client therapist …show more content…
relationship. This is where transparency is essential with empathy while dealing with patients and clientele. The truth and openness in the relationship between patients and clients is imperative. The trust achieved between the relationships, allows for positive growth and change. Without open conversation, this relationship can be stalled. The best way to help relationships grow and excel, is through critical questioning. However the way questions are worded, can either hinder or aid in the discussion. Close ended questions have yes or no responses, stopping the conversation in it’s tracks. An example of this would be, “Are you feeling anxious?” I believe these questions are beneficial at points of conversations, however, they can stop the conversation in its’ tracks. A better approach would be open-ended questions such as, “Who do you consider to be your family.” This allows the responder, to elaborate, in their own words. Lastly, there are open questions. These are what I call, planting the seed questions. Placing the client in a position where they shift their perspective. An example of this would be, “What difference would you like to see in your work live?” or “I wonder if she feels the same way”. As a health professional, we walk a narrow path.
It is important to ensure we don’t stray from this path, as it can cause problems in the client, therapist relationship. Leading questions are not acceptable, as they can promote hate and anger. “Didn’t that make you angry?”
Personally I have engaged with empathetic practices, with inquiring questions, but never owning their experiences. I have used the tools of voice, emotion, and empathy to help the relationship. It can be difficult to sit back and listen, even when you can look at the situation and see the answer. However, using the tricks I’ve learned over the past month, it’s getting easier. It’s refreshing to see those “ah ha” moments, when they connect the pieces.
and how many therapist have used empathy in practice, however, some question if this is actually possible in practice. How can one understand another’s experiences, and its entire
value?
According to Arianna Huffington in the article “Empathy: What We Need Now”, during hardships and instability of society, empathy is needed to find solutions to those issues. Huffington writes about how empathy is needed in our country in order to produce a positive social change. She begins by giving an example of a movement that Martin Luther King created and how empathy was a part of this movement. King as well spoke of how empathy is the sign of living. To become involved in the situations of humanity in order to improve it, displays that empathy is the core of a human’s existence. After reading this article, I do agree with Huffington about how individuals need to fully understand and put themselves within the situation to fully comprehend the issue to solve.
Empathy is used to create change in the world by reaching out to the emotions of people and attending to them. It is used to help others learn and decide on matters that would not be reasonable without feelings attached to them. Empathy helps bring together communities that would have long ago drifted apart, but instead welcomed all who were different. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. This attribute of human-beings really allows us to not only attend to situations as if they were our own, but it allows us to feel most of what others feel because humans are very much alike in some ways. In many of the articles and novels that we have read this quarter, characters from different pieces of context have portrayed empathy whether it was toward
Burton defines empathy as the ability to not only recognize but also to share another person’s or a fictional character’s or a sentient beings’ emotions. It involves seeing a person’s situation from his or her own perspective and then sharing his or her emotions and distress (1). Chismar posits that to empathize is basically to respond to another person’ perceived state of emotion by experiencing similar feelings. Empathy, therefore, implies sharing another person’s feeling without necessary showing any affection or desire to help. For one to empathize, he or she must at least care for, be interested in or concerned about
Empathy is imperative to teach kids from a young age in order to help them recognize mental states, such as thoughts and emotions, in themselves and others. Vital lessons, such as walking in another’s shoes or looking at a situation in their perspective, apprehends the significance of the feelings of another. Our point of view must continuously be altered, recognizing the emotions and background of the individual. We must not focus all of our attention on our self-interest. In the excerpt, Empathy, written by Stephen Dunn, we analyze the process of determining the sentiment of someone.
Empathy, is a self-conscious characteristic human beings hold that allows them to understand another individual’s situation and feelings (Segal, Cimino, Gerdes &Wagaman, 2013). In regard to ho...
Ruch & Julkunen (2016) further define empathy is attempting to put ourselves in another person’s place to understand their sentiment. This gives us the ability to perceive the service users views and feelings. According to David Howe (2013) if there is no empathy this can this can make it difficult for the conversation to flow consequently the service users’ needs could be overlooked this would make it difficult to sense the service user’s emotions. However Tsang (2016) disputes that empathy can constrain the ability to understand a person or their sentiment due to language, or ethnic differences. These can be barriers making it difficult to understand the person and the empathy can be
To be able to understand how empathy works between a certain group of people, it is necessary to know what empathy means. I found an interesting definition of empathy, as a crucial component of the helping relationship, a need to understand people ' distress, and to provide supportive interpersonal communication. Empathy is the ability to recognize the emotions of others. Empathy does not mean that we live other people’ emotions, but it means that we understand other people ' emotions from our experiences. Empathy does not mean to cancel your personality, but to understand how people perceive the reality. It is the ability to read information coming through nonverbal channels. In this
According to the College of Nurse of Ontario (2006), empathy is one of the five key components of the nurse-client relationship and is one of the most powerful tools. You don’t need to know how your patient feels to be empathetic but letting them know that you are trying to understand is a good start. It can be used to describe a variety of experiences and had been defined by emotional researchers “as the ability to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling” (University of California, Berkeley). Having the ability to empathize doesn’t mean you will or that you are willing to help someone in need but it is an important first step towards a compassionate
Another noteworthy feature of this approach is the chance to empathize. In most forms of therapy, empathy is not used: why would you want to add more conflict to an already difficult situation? Well, as counterintuitive as it may seem, it does have standing. By definition empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of another person. In this context empathy serves as an indirect way for readers to relive and recall their own experiences.
Current research implies that an empathetic clinician-client relationship and interrelated ecosystems play the majority role in the success of therapy (Kilpatrick & Holland, 2009). The clinician’s ability to be present and actively perceive what the client is experiencing is of utmost importance in creating a therapeutic alliance. It is imperative that the clinician gains positive regard towards the client and their environment displaying honest acceptance towards the client no matter what issues are presented in session. This closely relates to a sincere presentation of genuineness that instills a feeling of honesty within the client and clinician (Kilpatrick & Holland, 2009). An experienced clinician builds upon the therapeutic
Empathy has a biological base, as how we feel empathy comes from a person’s brain. Rizzolatti (2004) studied mirror neurons in order to find out how empathy works. These mirror neurons have been discovered in the premotor cortex of monkeys that show when individuals act out a given motor act and when they are observing someone else who is also doing the same motor act. Further evidence shows the existence of these neurons in humans. The human mirror neuron system involves understanding other people’s action and the reason behind them, which is essentially what empathy is about. (Cattaneo & Rizzolatti, 2009).
Before reading these chapters, and listening to the lectures I had thought empathy was the same thing as sympathy. This brought me back to my first counselling session. It was about ten years ago, and I was telling the counsellor all about my problems at the time. When I looked over to see what she had to say, she was bawling her eyes out beside me. I had always assumed that is what empathy looked like, because I never understood the difference between the two, until now.
Moreover, Empathy is defined as the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another and can be reflected in several aspects, such as affective, cognitive, emotional and compassionate. Affective and cognitive empathy are illustrated by processing someone’s perspective and being able to identify and understand their emotions...
The dictionary definition of Empathy is the psychological identification with or vicarious experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and attitudes of others. Simply put, empathy is the ability to step into someone else’s shoes, be aware of their feelings and understand their needs. In the workplace, empathy can show a deep respect for co-workers and show that you care, as opposed to just going by rules and regulations. An empathic leadership style can make everyone feel like a team and increase productivity, morale and loyalty. Empathy is a powerful tool in the leadership belt of a well-liked and respected executive (Pressley, 2012).
It is only when both individuals can stay open to empathy, both for themselves and for others, even when they are angry or upset, that they can reliably care for themselves or others. Because caring ceases to exist without empathy or compassion, the partner on the non-receiving end of this may feel as if they are walking on