Chapter 3
Empathy
Empathy has been proven to be essential for enhancing our interpersonal relationships, overall life satisfaction and improving our ability to cope. But what is empathy exactly? This word originally was coined from the German einfuehlungsvermogen. Literally translated, this means being able to feel what another person is feeling. Empathy is the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s position, to identify and understand another’s situation, feelings and motives. Perhaps on first glance all this sounds a bit woolly.
What is empathy?
Empathy is often confused with sympathy and, therefore, being sympathetic is often misunderstood as being a key skill or quality we need to and can develop. Empathy is different from sympathy. ...
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