What happens when we feel empathy for another person? What are you feeling when that chronically anxious student sinks further into his chair or your teenage girl sobs through her closed bedroom door?
Empathy, or the capacity to “feel with” and share others’ emotions, can be a beautiful gift that connects us with each other. Yet it can also feel heart-wrenching and even unbearable at times. Researchers tell us that our initial empathic responses can shift in one of two directions—toward empathic distress or empathic concern.
Empathic distress, associated with negative feelings, can lead to withdrawal, poor health, and burnout. Empathic concern, on the other hand, can lead to positive feelings, good health, and the desire to help. To read more from AMY L. EVA, click here.