The Scope of Empathy Understanding

Describe about Empathy, the scope of empathy understanding and barriers to empathic.

Empathy refers to the scenario where a person or a counselor understands another individual’s situation or condition from their views. In this way, you get into their situations and try to experience what they feel often regarding their condition or conditions. In counseling, empathy is well noticed to heighten the assisting (prosocial) behavior. Even though the United States may socialize its people to be individualistic, research has revealed that the occurrence of mirror neurons act against emotions impacted by others and later produce them again (Brener, 2014). Empathy is a good technique of counseling since it enables the counselor and the person with the condition to share experiences fearlessly. Most counselors apply this technique in most sessions. Empathy technique can be used for all categories of people which include, children, young adults, adults and the elderly (Maibom, 2014).

In the field of psychotherapy and counseling, empathy understanding has been highly recommended by many counseling experts who have applied the technique. Empathy and sympathy always create a little confusion. It merely involves identifying the customer. Empathy can also be defined as an exact, emphatic comprehension of the customer’s experience that exists inside him or her (Stotland, Sherman & Shaver, 2013). It entails accessing the customer’s condition as your own. The notion of “as if” applies in this case. Demonstrating empathy enables your client to feel connected with you. The basic ways of showing empathy is through letting all your perspectives concerning the condition aside, listen to the other person carefully and understand well, formalize the other individual’s viewpoint, study your posture, inquire what the person could do and give him or her a good piece of advice after you have gathered all the evidence (Schulman, 2014).

The United States community is not internally organized; therefore, individuals cannot view situations from other persons’ perspective. Rather, they look at things from their own point of view due to increased individualism. The majority of people are engaged in their own daily dealings. A good number of people usually assume to think from the perspective of other persons. However, they think is a waste of time and not beneficial. The learners in the psychotherapy or counseling happen to possess averagely minimal challenges of comprehending the scope of empathy understanding and allowing themselves into other people’s perspective. It shows that empathy understanding exists in our society but, certainly, very few people are able to practice it especially those who are specializing in it at the professional level. Empathic understanding requires a keen examination of the client. First, the counselor has no idea; it is the client who has all the ideas, perception, feeling and attitude which the counselor should ensure to experience, acquire, and understand them for better counseling (Hoffman, 2013).  

Barriers to Empathic Understanding

There are three key levels of empathy understanding. First, if the customer admits the counselor to enter into his or her condition during the counseling period, then the counselor will be required to be receptive to the client. In this case, the client is likely to try and explain all the perceptions in the communication. Secondly, counselors must know and comprehend the message of the customer so that the expert gets an overview on where to start. Lastly, the counselor as a professional should speak his or her views or understanding to the customer (Morrell, 2013). The counselor can only communicate well and reasonably if he or she understands the client’s experience. Ideally, a counselor will never be the other person; he or she assumes the role. The expert is unavoidably outside, but applying the “as if” situation to think on how to best handle the condition. A condition can be either negative or positive, the majority of people think that these conditions are only negative which is not the case. In both positive and negative conditions, the counselor needs to understand every aspect of the customer’s emotions, experiences, and beliefs. It now comes clear that in empathic understanding, one takes the role of the other individual and in the function; one begins exploring herself or himself as if it were the affected client. As one tries to understand the customer, experience with them and also attempt to feel like they do, the customer easily adapts in the process and gets assistance on how to express, experience and understand herself or himself (Decety, 2014).

The barriers to empathy are the customers’ and counselors’ deviations. Such differences include educational knowledge, gender, age, culture, religion or dominion, social and economic differences. Honestly, no one can be like the other person. Everyone is unique in his or her own ways. The differences between the two parties can have an impact that is positive or negative depending on the uniqueness of the persons or the condition that is dealt on. Some differences may hinder excellent interaction. As a counselor, you cannot have many experiences to cater for every customer (Krznaric, 2014). Different customers behave in their own ways depending on how unique they are. However, customers are from different social, economic, gender and cultural set ups, the challenge is understanding on how to communicate with all of them effectively and attempt to take their role in the process of counseling. Sometimes, the color of the person is also a challenge. How? As a counselor, you can be black and what happens is that the client who is white in color will definitely look down upon you due to discrimination. On the other hand, if the counselor is white, he or she may ignore to pay attention to the black client. It mainly occurs as a result of racism. For this reason, it is highly encouraged for a counselor to take and additional behavioral and social science major, to help in understanding people of different setup or background more effectively. An example of such courses is anthropology (Vincent, 2015).

Techniques in Which Counselors Can Prepare Themselves

It is to some extent suitable for a counselor to get enough preparation before an appointment for a counseling session, especially for the potency customers. It will give a counselor enough courage to understand the clients, ask possible questions and feel confident to examine the clients. The potential clients feel to be the esteemed individuals and are very challenging during the counseling or psychotherapy period. Some of them behave as if they are so special even if they pay well. Potential customers always require first priority and great attention. As a counselor one is needed to be detailed and accurate to information (Staemmler, 2013).

Counselors can prepare themselves in many ways. However, each counselor prefers his or her own technique which works best. The methods do not equally apply to all counselors because they completely do not work for others. Below are the two key ways on how the counselors can prepare themselves before engaging in an appointment with clients.

First, is through relating with the clients in the normal way, putting all the professionalism and specialty aside and just be a normal person like them. They will feel you are on the same level and feel free to share their experiences with you. Most of them will experience a connection that will exist between you and them. It will develop the understanding between the clients and a counselor due to expected acceptable interaction as a result of the acceptable relationship. Secondly, is by taking the time to read some publications, articles or literary works concerning various groups and in particular the clients you are likely to deal with in the appointment. Some of the materials to steep in include various autobiographies and biographies, novels and poetry (Goldstein & Michaels, 2014).

As far as empathy understanding is concerned, it has three key categories. The types of empathy vary from one to another and they occur differently depending on the persons involved. Below is a list of these types and their explanation.

• Empathic concern

Empathic concern refers to the capability of an individual to make out the emotional condition of the other person, experience the condition and if it is not positive, feel and demonstrate an effective regard. Most persons think of this type whenever they talk about empathy (Reynolds & Reason, 2013).

• Individual distress

Individual distress refers to a literal way of feeling someone’s emotional situation. For example, when you a drama, it reaches a point where you feel empathy for the actor. A good example is where the actors engage in a war and one of them gets injured to an extent where you feel on behalf of the actor. The experience you feel is what known to be individual distress (Skultans, 2014).

• Perspective taking

Types of Empathy Understanding

Perspective taking ideally means being capable of viewing a condition from another individual’s point of view. It involves assuming someone’s role in a condition. When getting into another person’s situation, you first need to understand who the person is before engaging in perspective taking.

Showing empathy

Building empathy is a good skill that one requires to add in his or her skills. In the contemporary world, most people are living in fear and anger. A few lead a happy life. Therefore showing empathy to them can significantly help them move on well regardless of the challenges they go through. There are various ways in which empathy can be shown. Demonstrating empathy needs to be everyone’s responsibility and not only the counselors (Breggin, 2016). The ways to demonstrate empathy are discussed below.

• Good listening

Listening is one of the crucial and acceptable ways of demonstrating empathy. When you give attention to another person’s condition, they feel you are concerned because you are willing to understand what they are experiencing. Maintaining eye contact, involving facial expressions and other non-verbal cues will increase the trust of the person who has the condition in you. As a counselor, you need to monitor your body language and all the skills of active listening (Stebnicki, 2014).

• Open up

Demonstration of empathy is a two-way experience of communication. Both communicators have to play a role and opening up will help to share the necessary experiences or emotions that will help in the counseling process. In some cases, a counselor will require giving account of his or her own past experience that they feel can be of help to the client.

• Provide the physical affectionateness

This shows you are connected and definitely in good terms. But, not every person is comfortable with the physical touch. If you really know the person, you can hug them because you already understand the person. For the persons you do not know, just ask before you give them the physical touch.

• Project your focus to the person

Be keen on the person you are communicating with, give attention to the feeling or experience he or she has and node to signify you are taking everything he or she reveals. Also, be mindful on how the individual interacts with you. The practice of mindfulness to the surrounding of your interacting can establish the ability in you that will extend empathy to another person.

• Withholding judgment

Making judgment is not an easy task because it is the last step and can have an impact which can rarely change the minds of a person. It is suitable to have an understanding about one’s view then weigh effectively. It is uneasy to make judgment especially when it is the first time to interact with the person or client (Ciaramicoli & Ketcham, 2013).

Any situation where you find yourself making fast judgments, try to practice the following:

• Looking carefully on how you can show empathy to the person and try all your best to understand him or her as you are also likely to enhance the individual understand you.
• Identify what you share in common with the client/person.
• Inquire some things about the person to know how unique they are or their personal stories.

Conclusion

Empathy is part of a good life because everyone needs to be shown. Anyone in the United States society can feel hungry, fear or happy, thus, one requires feeling someone is concerned about them and this can be demonstrated through empathy. It is not the role of the counselors only to show empathy when giving advisory services. However, students in psychotherapy and counseling should play a vital role in ensuring others are able to empathy in the society. It is part of life and every individual feels to shown.

References

Breggin, P. R. (2016). The heart of being helpful: Empathy and the creation of a healing presence. New York: Springer.

Brener, M. E. (2014). Evolution and empathy: The genetic factor in the rise of humanism. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland & Co.

Ciaramicoli, A. P., & Ketcham, K. (2013). The power of empathy: A practical guide to creating intimacy, self-understanding, and lasting love. New York, N.Y: Piatkus.

Decety, J. (2014). Empathy: From bench to bedside. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

Goldstein, A. P., & Michaels, G. Y. (2014). Empathy: Development, training, and consequences. Hillsdale, N.J: L. Erlbaum Associates.

Hoffman, M. L. (2013). Empathy and moral development: Implications for caring and justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Krznaric, R. (2014). Empathy: Why it matters, and how to get it. New York: Perigee.

Maibom, H. L. (2014). Empathy and morality.

Schulman, S. (2014). Empathy. New York: Plume.

Morrell, M. E. (2013). Empathy and democracy: Feeling, thinking, and deliberation. University Park, Pa: Pennsylvania State University Press.

Reynolds, D., & Reason, M. (2013). Kinesthetic empathy in creative and cultural practices. Bristol, UK: Intellect.

Staemmler, F.-M. (2013). Empathy in psychotherapy: How therapists and clients understand each other. New York: Springer.

Stebnicki, M. A. (2014). Empathy fatigue: Healing the mind, body, and spirit of professional counselors. New York: Springer Pub. Co.

Skultans, V. (2014). Empathy and Healing: Essays in Medical and Narrative Anthropology. New York: Berghahn Books, Inc.

Stotland, E., Sherman, S. E., & Shaver, K. G. (2013). Empathy and birth order: Some experimental explorations. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.