All posts tagged: empathy

Do You Have Spiritual Empathy?

Do You Have Spiritual Empathy?

Published by Jenni Sidey

Spiritual empathy is an important form of heartfelt perception that many people might not consider. I have described spiritual empathy as empathizing with others through one’s spirituality. Consider this style “divining empathy,” which explains the process of connecting to spirituality (however you define it) to open your heart. For some, spirituality could be God, Goddess, nature, a creative intelligence, or the power of love. The divine is a stepping stone to your large, compassionate self. You become a vessel for spirit as you give and receive empathy. In some spiritual traditions, ego = edging God out, which you are less prone to do. This style reflects the sublime perspective of the Prayer of Saint Francis: Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is despair, hope. For it is in giving that we receive. If you have spiritual empathy, you may be drawn to the clergy or charitable nonprofit work. Satisfying careers include spiritual psychotherapist, life coach, acupuncturist, or yoga instructor. Or you may be a …

Using Empathy to Connect

Using Empathy to Connect

Published by Jenni Sidey

There is no single, universally accepted definition of empathy. What we do know is that empathy is some combination of perspective-taking, being non-judgmental, and the ability to recognize and communicate understanding of someone else’s emotions. Research consistently links empathic leadership to trust, psychological safety, engagement, and performance (Edmondson, 2018; Goleman, 1998). In my work coaching leaders across the globe, I hear leaders struggle with what to say/do to demonstrate empathy. I often have to explain that empathy is not an innate personality trait or a soft add-on—it is a set of skills and a learnable practice. And empathy shows up most clearly in behavior, especially through language. We can build connection and strengthen shared understanding by tending to our language, both what we say and how we say it, to help translate empathic intent into empathic impact. Empathy and AWE Empathy is conveyed not only through actions but through everyday language. Words can strengthen trust or quietly erode it. Paying attention to what I call AWE language is one way we can demonstrate empathy: Avoiding …

Lessons in Empathy From an Unlikely Rabbi: Angela Buchdahl

Lessons in Empathy From an Unlikely Rabbi: Angela Buchdahl

Published by Sam Flores

 .image-caption { display: none; } .pod-stream-buttons { display: flex; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; } .post-thumbnail { display: none; } .stream-button { flex: 1 1; margin-right: 0.5rem; } .stream-button:last-child { margin-right: 0; } .stream-button a { display: flex; } .stream-button object, .stream-button img { width: 100%; height: 100%; } .wp-remixd-voice-wrapper { display: none !important; } What does it mean to be a stranger? Rabbi Angela Buchdahl’s journey of faith, identity, and belonging teaches us the value of embracing the strangers among us—and our inner strangers, as well. In our increasingly divided world, the struggle to find belonging often leads us to question our identities. A cantor as well as a rabbi, she brings the experience of coming to a strange land, and the joy of leading Central Synagogue in New York City, one of the largest Jewish congregations in North America, to the conversation—as well as to her memoir Heart of a Stranger: An Unlike­ly Rab­bi’s Sto­ry of Faith, Iden­ti­ty, and Belonging. Rabbi Angela has been a trailblazer in the Jewish community since 1999, when …

How to Protect Yourself From Empathy Fatigue

How to Protect Yourself From Empathy Fatigue

Published by Jenni Sidey

It’s a little-known fact in the West, but a sophisticated model of the mind existed almost 2,500 years before Freud developed his theory of psychoanalysis in late-19th-century Vienna. This detailed map of the human mind was created by Siddhartha Gautama, who developed his theory through long, hard years of experiential trial and error, eventually achieving enlightenment after 49 days and nights of deep meditation under a Bodhi tree in Northern India. Upon realizing the true nature of both inner and outer reality, he became known as the Buddha, which means “Awakened One.” He then spent the rest of his long life sharing his wisdom and insight with others—and it’s no exaggeration to say that the Buddha’s teaching changed the world. Partly because of this oft-told story, in which deep meditation leads to enlightenment, most people associate Buddhism with meditation. And although meditation is, of course, both helpful and important, it’s just one small component of Buddhist practice. At the heart of the Buddha’s teaching was how to live—he provided his disciples with practical, comprehensive guidance …

From the Archive: ‘The Banality of Empathy’ | Namwali Serpell, Lovia Gyarkye

From the Archive: ‘The Banality of Empathy’ | Namwali Serpell, Lovia Gyarkye

Published by José Betancourt

In March 2019 Namwali Serpell wrote for the NYR Online about a choose-your-own-adventure-style episode of the television show Black Mirror, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Hannah Arendt, and Violet Allen’s story “The Venus Effect,” among other subjects, in an expansive essay on about narrative empathy. In this episode of Private Life, “The Banality of Empathy” is read by the writer Lovia Gyarkye. Click the “Subscribe” link in the player above to follow this podcast on your favorite listening platform. This reading accompanies the Private Life episode featuring a conversation with Serpell. You may read “The Banality of Empathy” at this link. Source link

Namwali Serpell on Toni Morrison, Criticism, and Narrative Empathy | Namwali Serpell, Jarrett Earnest

Namwali Serpell on Toni Morrison, Criticism, and Narrative Empathy | Namwali Serpell, Jarrett Earnest

Published by Jenni Sidey

In this episode of Private Life, the writer and New York Review contributor Namwali Serpell joins Jarrett Earnest to discuss her new book, On Morrison, a collection of essays about Toni Morrison and her work.  Click the “Subscribe” link in the player above to follow this podcast on your favorite listening platform. Their conversation covers Morrison’s life as a literary eminence and public intellectual, but the focus is Serpell’s close-readings of her most famous novels—including Jazz (1992), Sula (1973), Song of Solomon (1977), Beloved(1987), and Tar Baby (1981)—as well as her poetry, criticism, and later books. Earnest also asks Serpell about her essay “The Banality of Empathy,” about the concept of narrative empathy, which was published in the Review’s March 2, 2019, issue.   Namwali Serpell is a professor of English at Harvard University. In addition to On Morrison, she is the author of the novels The Old Drift (2019) and The Furrows (2022) and the essay collection Stranger Faces (2020). She has been a contributor to The New York Review of Books since 2017, when she wrote “Kenya in Another Tongue,” about a new edition of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s 1980 novel Devil on a Cross. Serpell is also a …

How to Help Someone Have an Empathy Makeover

How to Help Someone Have an Empathy Makeover

Published by Jenni Sidey

Some people are more readily attuned to other people’s feelings and perspectives, while others are more limited in this ability. Despite this variability, we are all prone to empathic disruptions, which can cause significant emotional and relationship difficulties. However, like many psychological abilities, empathy can be developed and refined with proper interventions and exercises. Thus, some people can undergo what might be called an “empathy makeover,” a process in which they gradually learn to understand others’ experiences more fully, recognize areas that disrupt their capacities, and respond more thoughtfully and constructively. Empathy is closely related to mentalization (Fonagy and Target, 1997), the capacity to conceive of and interpret mental states (beliefs, desires) as explanations of behavior in oneself and others. Mentalizing includes recognizing that people’s minds work differently, that they can reach different conclusions from the same data, and that they can hold false beliefs about the world. The capacity for mentalization is correlated with many positive measures of mental health, including the mental health of children (Steele and Steele, 2008). Many studies indicate that …

A look into the mind of someone without empathy

A look into the mind of someone without empathy

Published by Jenni Sidey

ABIGAIL MARSH: I get asked a lot, what’s the difference between the term psychopath and sociopath? The main difference is that the term psychopath or psychopathy is a scientific and clinical term, and the term sociopath or sociopathy is not. – [Narrator] Psychopathy explained, traits and treatments. – For some reason, it’s sticky. People really like the term. And so you do see it used a lot in book titles and lots of media coverage, but there’s really no scientific definition of sociopathy. There’s no sort of clinical set of traits that constitute it and no agreed upon definition of what it even means. The most common thing that is meant by the term sociopath is somebody who is diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. So that is a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual or the DSM-5, which psychiatrists and psychologists use to diagnose any psychological disorder. And once upon a time it was pretty common to call people who had a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder a sociopath. I don’t think anybody does that …

Hillary Clinton: The Triumph of Empathy in Minneapolis

Hillary Clinton: The Triumph of Empathy in Minneapolis

Published by Sam Flores

When I first saw the video of the killing of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital, I immediately thought of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Federal agents shot Pretti after he tried to help a woman they had thrown to the ground and pepper-sprayed. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves and help those in need. “Do this and you will live,” he says. Not in Donald Trump’s America. Americans have now seen with their own eyes the cost of President Trump’s abuse of power and disregard for the Constitution. Videos of the killing of Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents have exposed the lies of Trump-administration officials who were quick to smear the victims as “domestic terrorists.” Even Americans who have grown habituated to Trump’s excesses have been shaken by these killings and the reflexively cruel and dishonest response from the administration. This crisis also reveals a deeper moral rot at the heart of Trump’s MAGA movement. Whatever you think about immigration policy, how can a …