[teampractices] Empathy vs compassion, when helping others

Thu Feb 23 23:09:31 UTC 2017

Thanks for sharing, Max! I’ll definitely read the article. If I can add to the discussion, here’s a short 2:53 min video explaining empathy in a way that resonated with me <https://youtu.be/1Evwgu369Jw>.

TL;DR:

What is the best way to ease someone's pain and suffering? In this beautifully animated RSA Short, Dr Brené Brown reminds us that we can only create a genuine empathic connection if we are brave enough to really get in touch with our own fragilities.

> On 23 Feb 2017, at 23:53, Max Binder <mbinder at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> 
> I ran across an article claiming that empathizing with others on their issues can be a slippery slope to bias, or at the very least unnecessary absorption of another person's issues and feelings. The article was political in nature, so I won't post it, but it did make some claims that I thought to research.
> 
> That let me to this article on compassion as an alternative to empathy:
> http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/when_empathy_hurts_compassion_can_heal <http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/when_empathy_hurts_compassion_can_heal>
> 
> I can't attest for the reputation of the site linked, but it makes some interesting arguments. I thought those arguments might be relevant since we often operate in an environment with, and espouse values using, words like "empathy." 
> 
> TL;DR:
> 
> we can better cope with others’ negative emotions by strengthening our own compassion skills, which the researchers define as “feeling concern for another’s suffering and desiring to enhance that individual’s welfare.”
> “Empathy is really important for understanding others’ emotions very deeply, but there is a downside of empathy when it comes to the suffering of others,” says Olga Klimecki, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany and the lead author of the study. “When we share the suffering of others too much, our negative emotions increase. It carries the danger of an emotional burnout.”
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