What is Empathy?
August 11, 2016“Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.”
– Alfred Adler
Empathy is the ability to recognize and understand the feelings of others and showing that you care with supportive and compassionate words and/or actions. Empathy is taking the perspective of others and respecting their opinions or points of view.
Here’s a helpful mnemonic created by developmental psychologist Mimi Black:
E = ENRICH your child’s “feelings vocabulary”
M = MODEL empathic responses
P = PRAISE your child for their empathic words and actions
A = ASK questions that encourage empathic responses
T = TAKE ADVANTAGE of situations and interactions as springboards for discussion
H = HONOR your child’s feelings
Y = Share YOUR feelings and experiences, when appropriate
Empathy by Jef Joslin
(Produced by Songfinch)
Excuse me
I noticed that your smile went away
And now I see a frown in its place
So I wonder if you’re feeling sad
How you feel, it must feel bad
Oh if I were you I know I’d feel the same
You gotta put yourself
In someone else’s shoes
And that’s how you will know
Which words or action you should choose
If how you feel
Connects you to me
Don’t you see
That’s empathy
Now you’re beaming
And if I had to guess
I’d have to say
That you’re excited about
What you did today
And I’d be smiling ear to ear
And it makes me so happy to hear
If I were in your shoes I’d be excited too
You gotta put yourself
In someone else’s shoes
And that’s how you will know
Which words or action you should choose
If how you feel connects you to me
Don’t you see
That’s empathy
Even though I’m not you
And I have my feelings too
I will listen to learn what I should do
And when a parent shows empathy
They give children all that they need
By teaching them powerful tools
You gotta put yourself
In someone else’s shoes
And that’s how you will know
Which words or action you should choose
If how you feel connects you to me
Don’t you see
That’s empathy
You gotta put yourself
In someone else’s shoes
And that’s how you will know
Which words or action you should choose
If how you feel connects you to me
Don’t you see
That’s empathy
That’s empathy
That’s empathy