Empathy Movement Magazine

Empathy is beneficial for nurses and patients alike, but nurses who experience repeated, prolonged exposure to patients' trauma and suffering can develop empathy exhaustion (also known as empathy fatigue or compassion fatigue), which can have serious effects on the nurses' mental, emotional, and physical health.

Empathy is a core component of nursing practice.  In nursing, empathy is commonly defined as recognizing, understanding, and feeling from the patient’s perspective, and experiencing emotions such as care, concern, or distress as a result of being exposed to a patient’s situation. 

In the face of rapid socio-political changes, the need for empathy in professional settings has never been more pronounced. Empathy, often misunderstood and underutilized, is not just about understanding another's feelings but believing in the validity of their experiences as equally important as our own. This subtle yet profound distinction is crucial for fostering an inclusive, supportive, and effective workplace.

by Tom Fleischman,

Researchers from Cornell University, Olin College and Stanford University tested this theory by prompting CAs to display empathy while conversing with or about 65 distinct human identities.

The team found that CAs make value judgments about certain identities—such as gay and Muslim—and can be encouraging of identities related to harmful ideologies, including Nazism.

"I think automated empathy could have tremendous impact and huge potential for positive things—for example, in education or the health care sector," said lead author Andrea Cuadra, now a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford.

Ed Kirwan, founder of Empathy Week spoke about empathy and how to show empathy as a leader.

Details: https://www.empathysummit.com/dates/May-4-2024

 This Empathy Summit is built around the launch of Dr. Judith Orloff's new book, The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships, and the World. Speakers will talk about, Empaths: Why Empathy is Genius and how to use empathy to heal yourself and the world?

=========== CONTENTS ===========
9:00 PT Introduction - Edwin Rutsch and DJ Chandler

9:10 Keynote Speaker: Judith Orloff (20 min) Is author of the newly released book, The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships, and the World and has been called “the godmother of the empath movement.”

9:30 - Questions and Answers (20 min)

9:50- Speaker: Michelle J. Howe (10 min) Michelle J. Howe is the founder of Empath Evolution and an educator who empowers teams and leaders to value sensitivity, intuition, and empathy.

10:00 - Speaker: Michael R. Smith (10 min) Dr. Michael R. Smith is a spiritual guide, medium, and author whose pioneering work to connect empaths with their Divine potential has helped many worldwide over the last 20 years.

10:10 - Speaker: Tom DiNardo (10 min) Tom "Two Men Fighting In One" DiNardo is a renunciate, mystic, and healer. He follows the "Red Road" and the sacred Heyoka (empath and Contrarian) path.

10:20 - Speaker: Cynthia Higgins, (10 min) Cynthia is an empath, physician, spiritual life coach, and online course creator of Cracking the Dharma Code, an online course for those seeking to share and deepen their spiritual experiences as Empaths. 10:30 am PT: Empathy Circle - A participatory dialogue using the Empathy Circle process. Speaker: Edwin Rutsch (10 min) Is the director of The Empathy Center in Santa Barbara California.

One of the most effective aspects of Dr. Roberts’ approach has been the weekly empathy messages he sends to the district. These missives share a story related to an event that’s happening in the real world––a school board member losing her battle with cancer, or Women’s History Month––and end with what Dr. Roberts refers to as a “radical empathy quote,” something they can “carry in their toolkit throughout the week.” 

 research showing that greater empathy leads to decreased drug and alcohol use.

 by Greg Glasgow 
Does an adolescent’s level of empathy influence whether or not they will use drugs or alcohol? 

It’s a question that Drew Winters, PhD, director of the Affective Social Cognition, Executive Functioning, and Neuro-Development (ASCEND) lab in the Department of Psychiatry in the University of Colorado School of Medicine, set out to answer in research published this month in the Journal of Drug Issues.

“The idea was, if you are less attuned to other people's emotions or have less capacity to understand the perspectives and emotions of those close to you, maybe it is less likely one will stop engaging in harmful activities like substance use,” he says. “Typically, there’s a point where social consequences of substance use becomes apparent — your family's had enough, you’ve lost friends — but what if you just don't register those people’s emotions and feelings?”

Is Empathy Redundant for Successful Leadership?
Is empathy essential in the workplace, or is it more of a hindrance?

In research fields, empathy is “hot.” Psychologists and neuroscientists have published considerable ongoing studies in fields as far-ranging as aesthetic experience to sports to leadership. Certainly within the business environment, conversations around empathy have become a prominent topic of discussion.

by Sophie Williams
Another soft skill that seems to be required of successful leaders dealing with times of crisis is empathy – so much so that Forbes recently reported that it is a “strategic imperative in business.” The WEC research showed that 61 per cent of people surveyed with “highly empathic senior leaders report often or always being innovative at work, as compared to only 13 per cent of those with less empathic senior leaders”. Furthermore, 76 per cent of people surveyed “with highly empathic senior leaders report often or always feeling engaged, compared to only 32 per cent of those with less empathic senior leaders.”

Working with a leader who displays empathy allows people to be more innovative, to dream bigger and to take more risks in the hope of greater reward for the business – to such a degree that the researchers concluded that “cultivating empathic leadership is an effective strategy to respond to crisis with the heart and authenticity that many employees crave” – and boost productivity.

Empathy, both within the team and towards customers, is a key element of an effective engineering culture.

Empathy enables transparency and transparency enables healthy feedback cycles within a team.

Moving from a group of individuals to a high-performing team can be achieved rapidly, but it requires deliberate leadership, along with an aligned goal and aligned purpose

Metrics matter for developer experience, and measuring the wrong things makes problems worse not better

The biggest bottleneck in developer experience is communication, ensuring we have the right kind of communication, not just the amount of communication

 By Melissa Rudy 
Why the difference?
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor, was not involved in the study but called the findings "fascinating."

"Women tend to have a higher empathy quotient, which can impact patient care and diagnosis and treatment directly," he told Fox News Digital. 

Here’s the takeaway. Empathy at work is important because it facilitates a deep connection to another living being (human or canine). Raffi and I were besties, but more than that we were connected — understood each other’s flaws, tuned in to each other’s concerns and responded to each other’s needs.

by Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum

When people are ill, they feel less empathy for others than when they are healthy. This has been confirmed by a study conducted by Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.

The researchers investigated "sickness behavior," a process in which the body reorganizes its biological priorities in the context of an acute infection. So far, it has mainly been researched in connection with social withdrawal and feelings of social disconnection. But how does illness affect our empathy?

BY MICHAEL CUPPS
 
In the arena of politics, empathy seems to have met its untimely demise, crushed beneath the weight of relentless bipartisan warfare. The once noble virtue of understanding and resonating with the feelings of others has been eclipsed by the toxic culture perpetuated by Democrats and Republicans alike. In this battleground of ideologies, hate and bad rhetoric have become the weapons of choice, leaving empathy discarded in the rubble of partisan discord.

The polarization between the two major political parties has reached unprecedented levels, with each side demonizing the other to the point where empathy is perceived as a weakness rather than a strength.

by Letitia Rohaise 

Regarding the empathy argument, I see its merit. There is substantial psychological research around empathy, both cognitive and emotional, suggesting by observing others we are able to mimic their emotions in our Mirror Neuron System, thereby better understanding other’s mental states and emotion.

This theory has been applied to the emotional response elicited when you view photos, where visual storytelling enhances people’s ability to envisage and observe emotion (Joshua Sarinana articulates this really well in his article “Photography and the Feelings of Others: From Mirroring Emotions to the Theory of Mind”.)
 

Empathy: We all aspire to it, but does it really make a performance difference in the workplace? Definitely, according to Jamil Zaki, a research psychologist at Stanford University and author of The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World (Crown, June 2019).

In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Jamil joins McKinsey talent leaders Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle, with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly, to make the case for investing in empathic behavior—for reasons including higher productivity, a stronger workplace culture, and better organizational health—as well as to discuss how to go about cultivating kindness at work.

 

Embark on a transformative journey of “empathic resilience” with this course designed for empathy professionals like you who want to forge deep connections with clients while safeguarding themselves against burnout.

In this immersive experience, participants delve into the Six Essential Aspects of Empathy model crafted by the insightful Karla McLaren, MEd.

Imagine unlocking the secrets to make empathy not just accessible but fully manageable in your practice. And this isn’t merely about understanding empathy; it’s about crafting a workplace environment where empathy is not just healthy but intentional and enduring.

Retail Council of Canada’s Human Resources Conference on April 25, 2024, brought together over 150 HR professionals to discuss pivotal insights into the retail industry’s workforce dynamics. Some key takeaways of the day: 

Listening with Empathy: Amidst the array of tools available, including AI, the paramount importance of genuinely listening to retail employees cannot be overstated. Pay is significant, particularly during times of inflation, but other concerns such as workload, training, and feeling heard are equally crucial. A focus on empathetic listening fosters a positive employee experience, which translates into enhanced customer satisfaction and ultimately better business outcomes.

By Allaya Cooks-Campbel

Empathy helps you relate to others on a profound human level, understand their problems together, and support the people around you. If you’re a highly empathetic person, you might identify as an empath: someone who can sense others’ feelings and relate to them on a deeper level.

But being constantly aware of other people’s emotions can be exhausting. It might even have significant impacts on your own life and make you feel tired and drained — a phenomenon sometimes known as empathy or compassion fatigue.

So what are the emotional triggers for empaths, and how can you avoid them? Recognizing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that affect you most is the first step to understanding your role as an empath and developing self-awareness and self-control.

By Arlin Cuncic

Active listening is a communication skill that involves going beyond simply hearing the words that another person speaks. It's about actively processing and seeking to understand the meaning and intent behind them. It requires being a mindful and focused participant in the communication process.

Active listening techniques include:

Being fully present in the conversation

Showing interest by practicing good eye contact
Noticing (and using) non-verbal cues

Asking open-ended questions to encourage further responses

Paraphrasing and reflecting back what has been said

Listening to understand rather than to respond

Withholding judgment and advice

BY MARTIN RUST 

Empathy-based leadership is increasingly recognized as a valuable approach in the business world, where traditional strategic plans often fall short.

The importance of an empathy-based approach to running a business
In all that we encounter, from the significant to the seemingly inconsequential, it's crucial to acknowledge that at every turn, it's about the people. In my experience interacting with communities in conflict and post-conflict zones, understanding is vital, particularly when we're poised to make key decisions. Empathy ought to be the guiding force behind our every action, steering us through each decision we face.

Navigating these pivotal moments requires a grasp of what matters. It might appear obvious, but amidst the chaos of daily challenges, this lucidity enables us to sift through the noise and distractions, honing in on what's essential: the well-being and consideration of those around us.