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From my own experience I have been able to distinguish between the two emotions. Prior to the past few years I had attended several funerals of my friends' parents. I felt sorry for my friends' loss but I can honestly state that I had no concept of the depth of their loss. I expressed my sympathies but it was hard for me to identify with their loss. Once, however, I had personally suffered the loss of my own parents I felt much differently at subsequent funerals. I now knew the full range of emotions involved in the loss of one's parents and was able to not only feel sympathy but also empathy.
Empathy is the more valuable and more easily applied emotion. Actually being able to feel how someone else is feeling allows one to have a clearer view of the available options and how to deal with such person. Sympathy, on the other hand, should be applied based on the circumstances. Often time individuals...
A truly empathetic person is attuned to these situations and acts accordingly.
Although sympathy and empathy are often used interchangeably there is a clear distinction between the two. In most cases, it is possible to be both sympathetic and empathetic but it is also possible to experience one without the other. The feeling of empathy is much harder to develop but demonstrates a more active engagement in the situation. Sympathy, on the other hand, is more easily expressed but demands less understanding of the situation or person. Being capable of properly determining which emotion to express is a valuable ability and one that one should attempt to develop. In essence, empathy is always appropriate while sympathy should be reserved for moments when it is appropriate.
Interpersonal Communication
Empathy can be related to sympathy, it is in regards to moral philosophy and refers to feelings an individual may have towards another individual (Davis, 1996). Empathy comes from the term Einfuhlung, this is a word initially used in German aesthetics. This generally meant that an individual has a tendency to associate an object with their own self. Simply put, it is when an observer projects themselves into something which
Empathy and Counseling Review and Critique of "The Relationship Between Clients' Perceptions of Therapist-Parent Similarity with Respect to Empathy, Regard and Unconditionality and Therapists' Ratings of Client Transference" (1998) by Barrie Mariner Arachtingi and James W. Lichtenberg From a counseling perspective, it is clearly much easier to have sympathy for others in need, such as "sympathy for the poor," than it is to have empathy, which requires a significant mental and emotional
However, he also shows a high degree of empathy, sympathy, and compassion for others. Frequently a significant contributor in a service-oriented sales role" (Weitzul 1993:49). This characterization of the necessary qualities for successful salespeople is very different from the traditional persona of salespeople who, especially in prior generations, often maintained an Aggressive-Compulsive behavioural style that is normally defined as a personality type that relies on a domineering approach lacking
empathy must be accorded to the child, that teacher helps child master words in ways that are most congruent to the child, that teacher must 'step into the child's shoes' (i.e. go down to his level) in order to help him best, that the child must be made to feel that he can succeed, and that progression of knowledge must proceed from lower to progressively more challenging levels Teaching students
Empathy Significance of concept to student The topic of overcoming is relevant to me because it is about getting over barricades. To be a human being and living in a world where it means that there will be obstacles put on me says I will have to overcome them to become successful. At times, they were occasional, for me and at others times they were continuous. The obstacle of overcoming the
Empathy Today Empathy is increasingly viewed as more that an essential aspect of effective person-centered counseling. It is arguably the key humanizing aspect of the effective type of relationship through which a true and honest exchange of understanding can take place to facilitate healing or psychological improvement (Hakansson, 2003). Carl Rogers, one of the recognized founders of this conceptualization, attached an increasing significance to this reality as he reconsidered the issue of