EMPATHY: DIMENSIONS AND PRACTICES

 EMPATHY

Empathy is the value of imagining one’s life from their perspective. Empathy is important because it will be able to improve our communication with others and can help us understand and accept others better. Empathy can also drastically improve social interactions, especially between multicultural individuals and societies.

Most often the words, Empathy and Sympathy are misunderstood. The differences between them are:

• Sympathy is a feeling of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune;
• Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings, concerns, emotions, needs of another.

ACTIVITY 1: STEPPING INTO OTHER’S SHOE

Empathy is the ability to understand true feelings, concerns and emotions of others. It has the following components:

• Putting oneself in others shoes.
• Seeing the things from others point of view, understanding feeling of other person.

PROCESS

• Sit in a circle and take off your shoes. Place them behind you.
• When the music starts (or when the group sings a song if music is not available), you will move around in a circle.
• When the music or song stops, you must slip on the pair of shoes that is behind you.
• After five rounds, retrieve your own shoes from wherever they are.
• Return to your seats and get ready to discuss the game. You will then be given a worksheet to complete.

WORKSHEET

1. What did you learn from this game?
2. How did you feel when you were asked to remove your shoes?
3. Did you feel reluctant and why?
4. What were your feelings when you had to wear other persons’ shoes?
5. How does it feel when you see someone else wearing your shoes?
6. What went on in your mind when you saw someone else’s shoes in front of you and you had to wear them?
7. How could these feeling be applied in real life?

TREAT OTHERS RESPECTFULLY

IMPORTANCE OF RESPECTFUL BEHAVIOUR

• Respect is treating others the way one wants to be treated.
• Respectful interactions lead to healthy relationships.
• Respectful person demonstrates care and concern for others. He is courteous, kind, fair, honest and obedient.
• Littering, polluting, harming animals and plants is disrespect towards the environment.
• Defacing, ruining and stealing property is disrespect towards the property.

LET US BE CARING AND COMPASSIONATE

Empathy helps us to be caring and compassionate. We should give a helping hand to others who are in need. This activity will help us to achieve the following Learning Outcomes.

DISCUSSION

• Think of a time when you were in need of someone’s help or support. Did you receive support and how was it helpful?
• Think of a reason why an animal or plant may need your help and support ?

ACTIVITY: THE COMFORTERS

Empathetic attitude helps us to understand another person’s point of view and to appreciate how the other persons might be feeling. Our actions may affect other person in both positive and negative ways. This activity will help us to achieve the following learning outcomes.

Process

• Form two rows with equal numbers of participants.
• If you are standing in row one, you will receive a problem slip. Take your slip and move towards the person standing directly opposite you — this person will be your COMFORTER.
• If you are in row two, you will discuss your problem with your counterpart.
• If you are a COMFORTER, listen carefully to the problem of your counterpart and respond as if you are a friend, neighbour, teacher, or anyone who can genuinely help.
• If you are a problem owner, share your hypothetical problem clearly.
• Once you receive an appropriate response or solution from your comforter, join the group and sit in a circle.
• One by one, share your problems and experiences with the group.

PROBLEM SLIPS

PROBLEM SLIP 1: I have asthma and I am not allowed to play sports. This makes it hard for me to make friends.

PROBLEM SLIP 2: Everybody makes fun of me because I see a speech therapist for my stuttering.

PROBLEM SLIP 3: If somebody in home gets in trouble, they always blame me.

PROBLEM SLIP 4: My parents like my younger sibling more than me.

PROBLEM SLIP 5: A bully has been trying to get me to help him to cheat in competitive examination.

PROBLEM SLIP 6: My best friend has stopped talking to me and has even persuaded some other friends not to talk to me.

PROBLEM SLIP 7: My friends tease me for being overweight and short.

PROBLEM SLIP 8: I generally experience headache which is becoming more persistent during office hours.

PROBLEM SLIP 9: I have been in this office for two weeks. I still do not have friends here.