Lead me into understanding you - Empathy with Christina

In today's episode Christina and I will talk about the differences between listening from an empathic space and listening from an active role of wanting to change or do something for the person we are listening to. This is episode 8 in our series on "Introducing and Exploring compassionate communication" or Nonviolent communication (NVC for short) as it is also called. Today is the 2nd part of this series as we dive into the vast and vulnerable well that is empathy, that is listening, to you, to myself to each other. So today is part 1 on the topic of empathy.

As we hear a little from Christina about why Empathy is so meaningful for her, and how it has "saved her life" we begin to see the real beauty that comes from truly being listened to in this way. Christina and I offer some examples of how we often respond to our friends and loved ones when they begin to open up to us, and we look at how these different responses can be both useful and distracting from the focus on the other person. That is not to say we are doing anything wrong or that we want to stop responding in these ways such as giving advice or reassurance, yet if we have the power to notice ourselves, then we can choose, we can offer choice to our friends as they speak with us, and this can really lay the grounds for safety, consideration and care in our relationships. 

Links

My website : www.empathart.com

www.empathart.com/pocast - for donations :) 

Facebook practice group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/708106093040541

Feelings and Needs lists: https://www.connecting2life.net/feelings-and-needs-lists/