By Doyle McManus

President Biden, in an election battle with Trump, touts the economy. Democratic strategists say the message is missing Biden’s big strength: empathy.

Whatever happened to the empathetic Joe Biden who won the 2020 presidential election?

Some days it feels as if that kindly Uncle Joe has been replaced by a cranky old pol annoyed at voters who don’t give him credit for a strong economy.

Whatever happened to the empathetic Joe Biden who won the 2020 presidential election?

Some days it feels as if that kindly Uncle Joe has been replaced by a cranky old pol annoyed at voters who don’t give him credit for what he states is a strong economy.

Last week, when the Labor Department reported that inflation had ticked up to 3.5%, probably delaying a cut in interest rates, Biden didn’t offer much solace.

Marc Siegel, 

Unfortunately, when it comes to the world of medicine and health care, there is not a clear-cut standard for kindness or empathy. Are most doctors more humane or less so?

While many complain that their doctors are no longer accessible or compassionate and are too tied into the technology and computerization of our time, at the same time others believe that empathy training in medical schools has turned out more caring practitioners.

John Domen

When it comes to the trait of empathy, when and how you show it to your kids can have a big influence on how they act, both through adolescence and as parents themselves years later. Researchers at the University of Virginia say the trait is one that’s passed down through generations, beginning with moms.

That’s the conclusion of a study that followed nearly 200 people from the time they were teenagers to when they had their own kids more than 20 years later. The UVA research team filmed each pair discussing a problem the teen needed help with then noted how much empathy the mothers exhibited to their children. In all, three generations were studied for more than two decades.

At the heart of so many relationship questions we've received—and relationships in general—is a common thread: EMPATHY. This "healing force", as our esteemed guest calls it, has the power to not only heal our relationships with others, but with ourselves. So why do so few of us understand its powers?

Today we're honored to be joined by THE foremost expert on empathy, Dr. Judith Orloff, dubbed “the godmother of the empath movement.” Dr. Orloff is a board-certified psychiatrist and the New York Times best-selling author of several books, including 2017's landmark "The Empath’s Survival Guide" and her latest, "The Genius of Empathy: Practical Skills to Heal Your Sensitive Self, Your Relationships, and the World". 

HR professionals play key roles within their organizations, which often means juggling multiple deadlines, handling emergent situations and managing daily administrative tasks. Under these demands, it is common for HR professionals to struggle with burnout, but this can have negative consequences throughout an entire business.

Below, members of Forbes Human Resources Council share key strategies for how HR professionals can safeguard against burnout. With their advice, your organization can take steps to bolster its HR team and prevent the negative impacts of burnout and empathy fatigue.

1. Avoid Empathy Loss By Prioritizing Mental Health

by Gilad Feldman,

Our ability to forgive others is closely tied to the level of empathy we feel towards them.

We conducted a replication of McCullough et al. (1997) and the empathy model of forgiveness.

Replication was done as a Registered Report with Peer Community in Registered Report, a revolution in science.

The empathy model of forgiveness

In 1997, Prof. McCullough and his colleagues proposed the empathy model of forgiveness, which has been one of the most widely cited models in the field of psychology when it comes to explaining why we forgive. The essence of this model is straightforward.

by Michelle J. Howe

A vast amount of Empaths are just now waking up and looking for answers.  Many Empaths are now in Facebook groups.  Many are relieved to finally find like-minded people and explanations for why they are affected by others – why they know or feel more than others.

Most Empaths have a HUGE heart.  This heart LOVES to help other people.  There is nothing more fueling to an Empath than to be of service to others.  Mostly, an Empath feels a huge burst of energy when they step forward in this way.   Empaths love to listen, solve and/or sprinkle the great energy into helping others.

by Rhett A. Butler  

Mongabay: Do you think greater empathy for animals or plants represents an overlooked opportunity in conservation?

Jane Goodall: Yes, I do believe it’s crucial. We now understand that trees in forests can communicate underground through mycorrhizal networks, sending pheromones to better prepare for an impending attack by predators. This knowledge is fascinating and increasingly recognized.

Empathy plays a vital role as well. For instance, I feel a profound sadness when old-growth forests are cut down. And of course, I have empathy for animals. This contrasts with what I was told at Cambridge: that a scientist cannot afford to have empathy for their study subjects without compromising objectivity. I’ve found this to be absolutely untrue. Empathy and objectivity can coexist. Don’t you agree?

Empathy and understanding are the glue that holds the modern workplace together. More than a nice-to-have, they're the foundation on which future business success is built. How do we know? Eighty-seven percent of employees agree they're the cornerstone of inclusivity.

By Phillip Britt, 
Despite the importance of empathy, many companies ignore it when creating experiences, according to Forrester. “Even if you never use the word ‘empathy’ in your work when creating products or experiences, if you aim for making customers feel understood in your design decisions, then you’re designing for empathy.”

Companies tend to leave empathy out of the design process for a myriad of reasons—they have inadequate empathy practices, they misunderstand empathy, they ignore the emotional quality of the experience, or some combination of those three.

Based on the results, researchers encouraged physicians to be more empathetic during chronic pain encounters.
However, there is a debate on whether physician empathy can be taught.

Physician empathy was inversely associated with several health outcomes among adults with chronic low back pain, such as pain intensity and back-related disability, a study demonstrated.

The Pope noted that “the temperate person succeeds in holding extremes together: He affirms absolute principles, asserts nonnegotiable values, but also knows how to understand people and shows empathy for them.”

By Sara Heath

April 16, 2024 - Clinician empathy could be a key pain reliever for patients experiencing chronic pain, with a recent study in JAMA Network Open outlining how greater perceptions of empathy from their physicians were linked to lower reported pain levels.

To be clear, empathy doesn’t have the same physiological effects as taking ibuprofen or other pain medicine. But in the chronic pain space, where patient-reported outcomes are key, patients with a better relationship with a provider they think is empathic may be more likely to discuss their pain levels. That opens fresh doors for reconsidering pain management and treatment, the researchers indicated.

By Esther Landhuis

As a science and health journalist, I often write about contested illnesses — conditions that elude mainstream medicine because they lack clear symptoms and lab findings. That means I spend a lot of time talking with families who feel unseen. Empathy is a key motivator for my reporting. I found solace and inspiration from this advice shared by journalist and author Evan Ratliff at the 2019 Power of Narrative session and covered on Storyboard: “Report your way to empathy. If you can’t see the world through your subject’s eyes, the answer is more reporting.”

After a source discloses their struggles, I often sense a shift in our relationship. They become more candid, confessing worries about public disclosure. Some have acknowledged me in their organization’s newsletter or invited me to contribute toward related political efforts. One mother, after emailing lengthy replies to follow-up queries after a 90-minute interview, told me: “I really have to apologize for talking too much. When someone is genuinely curious and willing to listen, everything sort of pours out.”

by @Graham Bodie

Since last August, 19 graduate students seeking a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications at the University of Mississippi have been planning and preparing for the seventh annual National Week of Conversation (NWoC). They are helping provide real opportunities for people across the country to build bridges of understanding and empathy. Each of them committed to the course because they understand that beneath our differences lie shared humanity and common aspirations. They’ve been learning and applying concepts from Collective Impact and Reflective Structured Dialogue and are both inspiring and encouraging to work with. 

At its core, NWoC embodies the principles of empathy, respect, and openness – values that are essential for a thriving democracy. When people take the time to really listen to others, they learn. They learn that we really aren’t that different, that we share many of the same values and aspirations, something reinforced by findings of several studies. They learn that others, like them, desire to make positive change in our communities. They learn, as Brene Brown has written, that “people are hard to hate close up.” 

Democracy needs empathy - or: What happens when positive psychology meets social neurocognitive research?

We have known each other from afar for a long time: Prof. Dr. Tania Singer is probably Germany's most relevant researcher in the field of empathy and compassion. It took the impetus of a third party for us to finally actually meet.

The essence of an incredible conversation about psychological research, empathy, and the future of democracy:

1) Empathy and the ability to really listen are not only the basis for real togetherness, but also for social peace. Both can be learned, but are hardly taught in society anymore.

You can purchase a downloadable PDF here
or purchase a paperback or a Kindle copy on Amazon.com
(90 pages)

Contents

• Basic concepts and skills
• Sample practices
• Applying Embodied Empathy in daily life
• Apply it in work (as teacher, therapist, etc.)
• Challenges and benefits to using it
• How Embodied Empathy and Playback Theatre are similar and different

Learn some simple, powerful tools to make your listening skills even stronger.  Whether as a friend, family member, actor, teacher, therapist, minister or group facilitator, explore how to apply these skills in your life.

In practice, a lack of empathy can take multiple forms. From a customer service perspective, it can be talking to a staff member and feeling like they aren’t listening. From a language perspective, it could be reading a company’s social media page and seeing robotic, corporate language that takes the humanity out of business. And from a leadership perspective, it looks like people feeling they don’t have a voice and not being able to speak up in meetings.

To me, sympathy and empathy are different forms of understanding. Unless you have my exact condition, you can’t walk in my shoes, and that’s OK. These shoes suck, and I’m glad you’re not in them. I don’t want you to be able to fully understand and comprehend this situation through empathy.

I do want people to know what my shoes are and that there are different kinds, as well as understand that there’s something really wrong with mine — which is sympathy. You can even be grateful that you aren’t wearing the same pair as me. You actually should be grateful; just don’t rub it in.

Your capacity for empathy is one of your "genius" qualities—but it’s also so challenging. What are the practical skills that you can learn to heal your heart and nervous system, your relationships, and the world? Don’t miss this invaluable interview with Dr. Judith Orloff, MD