Empathy Movement Magazine

I would like to remind Daily Kos readers that The Empathy Center is hosting an Empathy Summit that will bring together professional empathy trainers from across a wide variety of interests to share how they use empathy in their practice. Thi

Recent studies published in the Creativity Research Journal reveal a connection between creativity and empathy, suggesting that constructing mental representations of others' minds is a crucial component of empathetic responses. Introducing the concept of "creative empathy," the research underscores that creativity can be enhanced in empathic contexts, yet the relationship between the two isn't always straightforward, with potential for both enhancement and distraction

Empathy Improves Communication
When we empathize with someone, we actively listen to their concerns, acknowledge their feelings, and demonstrate that we care. This simple act can significantly impact the communication exchange, showing that we respect and value their opinions.

This approach also helps to build trust, reduces misunderstandings, and encourages the speaker to engage in more open and honest conversations. Moreover, active listening can create a safe and supportive environment where individuals feel free to express themselves without fear of judgment.

by Tyler Lubben 

Rekindling Empathy and Respect in an Uncertain Time

Let’s reclaim the strength of empathy, politeness, and comprehension in our hectic world. Let’s defy current conventions and treat others how we wish to be treated. Follow us as we explore the significance of empathy and how it can drastically improve our lives and our world.

What Is Empathy and Why Is It Essential?

Empathy is the secret to genuinely understanding and connecting with others. It is about getting into their shoes and perceiving the world from their viewpoint. Empathy is all about understanding another’s point of view and their reasons for feeling certain ways about various topics. It is all about viewing them as an equal and understanding that no matter if they are struggling or succeeding in life we all deserve to be treated fairly and to be understood.

•  
  Emotional labor is real, yet it tends to go unrecognized, unsupported, and unpaid.
• Empathy is first and foremost an emotional skill that requires emotional labor.
• When emotional labor and empathic labor are unsupported, compassion fatigue and empathic burnout follow.

As a workplace consultant, I get many requests from business leaders who want their workers to be more empathic. This request nearly always displays a misunderstanding of empathy and the ways that empathy is often impeded by the workplace itself.

There may be a secret formula business leaders need for retaining talented leaders and being the best place for those leaders to work.

In a world that often values individualism and self-interest, the art of empathy shines as a powerful force that can transform relationships and facilitate personal growth. Empathy is not just a fleeting emotion; it’s a skill that can be nurtured and developed, and its benefits ripple through the fabric of our interactions. This blog post discusses the essence of empathy, highlighting its significance in relationships and personal development, while providing practical strategies to cultivate empathy and foster a profound understanding in your connections.

The Essence of Empathy
Empathy, often described as the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, transcends mere sympathy. It’s the act of stepping into someone else’s shoes, seeing the world through their eyes, and feeling their emotions without losing sight of your own. Empathy involves both emotional and cognitive aspects, encompassing the ability to recognize, understand, and respond to the emotions of others.

by Clay Drinko

KEY POINTS

• One study shows that the pandemic negatively impacted people's social empathy.
• A meta-analysis indicates that empathy in young people has been declining since around 2000.
• Research shows that improv can boost empathy.
• To increase empathy, work to reduce critical thoughts and judgment.

Improv and Empathy
That’s why I was eager to talk to Melissa Bowler, who designed improv exercises for a study that measured improv’s impact on medical students’ empathy. As a former improviser and current teacher, I’ve always been curious about how facilitators and improv coaches design their applied improv workshops, so I reached out to Bowler to see what her exercises and games had to do with empathy.

In the face of climate change, misinformation and polarization, and rapidly advancing technologies, empathy has never been more important to democracy and the future of humanity. It’s also desperately needed in the workplace. 

High-performance organisations that care about sustainability; employee well being; and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) are expected to practice empathic leadership.

The good news: Humans are born to empathize. Empathy has been a part of our successful evolution as a species, and extending empathy is good for us. It’s also good for business.

Building the Empathy Movement

http://TheEmpathyCenter.org
http://EmpathySummit.com
http://CultureOfEmpathy.com

http://EmpathyCircle.com

http://EmpathyTent.com

http://BestEmpathyTraining.com

Analysis: you will know when you are truly listening when you start to genuinely want to hear and understand the other person

By Fay Short, Bangor University

Being a good listener means having empathy, but empathy is one of the most misunderstood listening skills. Empathy is what we feel when we are trying to understand the world from the perspective of another person.

One of the common misconceptions about empathy is that you need to have lived through what the other person has experienced to understand them. Simply having the same experiences as another person is not enough to understand them. Two people can face the same challenges or difficulties, but respond in completely different ways.

There are 3 steps to mastering empathy:
The first step:
Really easy and fun. Try to distract yourself and focus your attention on another person. You can do this by listening to someone while looking at him. As your focus shifts to him, your fears will disappear, as well as any social discomfort or performance anxiety. When you do this, you can be nervous or anxious if you focus your attention only on yourself.

Rob Volpe, Empathy Activist and Founder of Ignite 360 talks connecting with your kids during back to school with empathy. It’s back to school season, and that means changes in routine as well as added emotions leading to sensitive discussions with kids

First, it’s important to always remember to take that curious breath to help clear your head and prepare yourself to respond instead of react. The second of the 5 steps, Ask Good Questions, is really important with your kids. In particular, not using the word ‘why’ which puts people on the defensive. Replace that with who, what, where, when, how. Instead of asking ‘why’, chose to ask “tell me more about that”.

The importance of including persons with lived experiences of mental health issues has been called for across research, knowledge production, healthcare training, and clinical practice. A new article highlights how theater promotes empathy for the lived experiences of psychosis, which can facilitate social change.

The article, published in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, describes how theater can provide deeper insights into the what-its-likeness of psychosis for those who do not have those experiences and provide a voice for those who do, which in turn can foster greater understanding and connection.

Abhishek Agarwal, President of Judge India & Global Delivery, The Judge Group, feels that while these innovations have brought numerous benefits, they have also raised concerns regarding the ethical implications of generative AI systems. It has, particularly, shifted tech professionals’ focus on nurturing emotional understanding and empathy in these systems, making it a key topic of discussion. 

The Empathy Center is hosting an Empathy Summit that will bring together professional empathy trainers from across a wide variety of interests to share how they use empathy in their practice. This event will start  this weekend, Sept. 2nd and continue on again the next weekend.  And, it is free!  

https://www.empathysummit.com/dates/september-2-2023 

How empathic are you? If you want to know for sure, all you have to do is take this quick personality test.
This personality test only takes a couple of seconds to help you establish just how empathic you are.


Simply look at the image below and pay close attention to the first thing in the image that captures your eye. Once you've done that, scroll down to find out what this personality test reveals about how empathic you really are.

We'll be discussing how AI (artificial intelligence) and AR (augmented reality) are being developed at Snap and asking whether they can be made to be empathetic technologies.

This session gives students a rare chance to meet employees who are working at Snapchat and directly ask them questions about their work and the role of empathy in the technologies they're developing. We believe that students should be shown how social media and technology can be used for empathy and to positively change the world.