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Empathy is the ability of a person to put themselves in the place of the other . It is thinking about how a person can feel and acting on that. If you have empathy, it means that you have a feeling of affective participation that shows that you put yourself in the other person’s shoes. At Bekia, we tell you much more about empathy and how you can increase this ability to increase your happiness as well as that of those around you.

What do you need to be an empathetic person?

To be an empathic person, you must not only think about what your situation would be like if you were in the other person’s shoes, but you must also be able to feel what they are feeling at a certain moment or in a situation . You must take into account the feelings of the people around you in order to understand what is happening to them.

That is, if a person is sad, your face will inevitably adopt an expression of sadness , just as if someone is happy you will show a feeling of happiness. Thus, taking this into account, empathy has two components: cognitive empathy is one that allows us to understand what others are thinking, while emotional empathy allows us to know the emotions of other people such as joy, anger or sadness. .

In the same way, you will also have to be an altruistic person, who knows how to listen and help without wanting to receive anything in return . Active listening is essential, as it allows you to understand the other person and that will lead you to put yourself in their place more easily. This is something that you will have to work on every day to become fully empathetic. It is not an easy task, since empathy develops over the years, as the person grows.

How to be more empathetic?

If you are concerned about the suffering of others and wish at all times the well-being towards those people who are your loved ones, ensuring that they always have the best and worrying about their feelings, you are a very empathic person. However, if you want to increase your empathy, here are some keys to do so.

It is important that you strengthen your compassion skills , in the positive sense of the word. This implies that you feel the same thing that the other person is feeling, and it will make you understand them much better and you can put yourself in their place.

Other keys that will help you will be to encourage cooperation, practice caring for the people you love and actively listening to their problems or concerns. Asking to find out more will help you get closer to the other person and help them with whatever they need.

In addition, you should be more open to the feelings of others, try not to judge or blame as much as possible and maintain a positive and optimistic attitude . Avoid typical advice because it will make the other person think that you are not helping them or are getting tired of hearing their problems. You must be careful when trying to understand their feelings, it is never as easy as it seems, no matter how small the problem you have.

Remember that empathy does not require you to solve problems, but rather that you understand the other person and know how to listen to them to comfort them . Listening can be the best help for them, and you should give them advice, keeping in mind that, even if they are well-intentioned, they can be misinterpreted as lack of understanding. But you must be patient and make him see that you are there to understand that person and help him. Patience is also the key to success in these cases. 

Elle Mcdonald

I am Elle Mcdonald Specializations in Psychology . Graduated in psychology from the University of Tennessee in 2000. Diploma of Advanced Studies in the Department of Personality, Evaluation and psychological treatments with excellent results.

First Level of Master in Clinical Psychology at the Center for Behavioral Therapists (recognized with a scientific-professional nature by the College of Psychologists)

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