POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

EMPATHY
CHRIST UNIVERSITY

FATHER DINIL 1424302

ANURADHA DAS 1424312
DEEPTHI JOSE 142318
DELPHINA ESTHER 1424319
SAMATHA 142438
VRUTHI 142435

EMPATHY
As we have no immediate experience of what other men feel, we can form no idea of the
manner in which they are affected, but by conceiving what we ourselves should feel in the like
situation.
-

Adam Smith

Empathy is an experience in which the individual seeks to understand the other or another
persons plight or experience or the condition from their perspective. One would place
themselves in their shoes and feel what they are trying to feel. The word empathy comes from
various definitions and thereby encompassing a broad range of emotional states which includes
having the desire to help other people, caring for people, even experience emotions that match
another individuals emotions; discerning what the other people would be thinking and feeling,
thereby making less prominence in the differences between the self and other. It is the ability to
be able to feel what the other person is feeling in the situation he or she may be in, and this way
one can also share the persons emotions as well. Few people believe that empathy involves the
ability to match with the other individuals emotions and on the other hand there are people who
believe that involves being tenderhearted toward another person.
The level of understanding one has of the other person in terms of their emotional state revolves
around the concept of empathy. An example would be, the emotions are taken to be centrally
characterized by the bodily feelings, and then grasping the bodily feelings of another will be
central in the context of empathy. With regard to the statement made above there is also another
perspective that if our emotions are centrally characterized by a combination of certain desires
and beliefs, hence the grasping of such desires and emotions are a higher priority and very

important while dealing with empathy. To be able to portray in another persons shoes or the
plight is a very imaginative role to be played by the individual. But this can be justified and
understood in the most simplest form that is our level of understanding ones emotions and the
feelings of the other, the most basic standard in recognizing the emotions what the person may be
facing or feeling is innate and this could be achieved in an unconscious manner. The emotion
empathy is qualitative in nature than compared to being quantitative in nature. In the case of an
empathic interaction, it involves a person who communicates an accurate recognition of the
significance of the persons ongoing intentional actions that are associated emotional states,
personal characteristics in a way in which the recognized individual can tolerate.
Empathy is an emotion that is present innately within every human being in some way or the
other. It is very important to know that empathy is highly an essential factor in motivating of the
prosocial behavior in an individual. The building of meaningful relationships is a significant
aspect of empathy and it also does enhance the social relationships. Empathy consists of both
cognitive and emotional elements. The ability to empathize is seen at an early age, with infants
as young as eighteen hours; who can respond to another infants distress. The individual being
able to empathize develops from the contributions of the biological, environment based factors.
These factors may include genetics, imitation, facial mimicry, temperament, parental factors,
such as the parent child relationship, the warmth and parent child synchrony. An individual being
able or having the ability to be able to empathize is one among the positive aspects or traits
within a person. This promotes positive behaviors towards others, facilitates social interactions
and relationships. Empathy can involve internal dynamics in the process of helping others,
protecting others, and which significantly it could be the mechanism that may motivate the want
and desire to help others; at times even at the cost of oneself. With so much capability to

transform a person in terms of positive aspects in their life, empathy also plays an important role
in transforming an individual to a socially competent person who would nurture the value of
social relationships.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Empathy has been widely researched in terms of its applicability in various professions and the
perceived effect of the same on the individuals experiencing it. Ioannidou F & Konstantikaki V
(2008), look at the concept of empathy and emotional intelligence as well as the importance of
effective empathic communication which they believe enhances the therapeutic effectiveness of
the clinician-patient relationship. They believe that an appropriate use of empathy as a
communication tool facilitates the clinical interview, increases the efficiency of gathering
information, and honors the patient.
While most research agrees that it is an important emotion to harbor in individuals for their own
personal growth and development, Prinz (2007), explores the role empathy plays in the
formation of an individuals morality. He questions the hypothesis that empathy is a necessary
construct in the development of morality as it helps individuals strive to be better people. He
goes on to also differentiate his definition of empathy from that of Batson (et. al, 1995 in Prinz,
2007) which defines empathy as as an otheroriented emotional response congruent with the
perceived welfare of another person. The author states that this definition encompasses concern
more than empathy. He also states that the empathic responses an individual provides to a
situation or person allows one to categorize these actions as good and bad respectively. While he
does believe that emotions are important to make moral judgments, he also mentions that there is
very little evidence to support that claim by most developmental psychologists that empathy

specifically is essential in the process of moral development. Studies have portrayed that children
use empathic reasoning while making a moral judgment, but even a high positive correlation
between empathy and healthy moral judgments would not indicate that it is a necessity. In order
to validate this claim, researchers will need to identify people with a lack of empathy and study if
they lack moral judgment as well. A study by Mikhail (2002 in Prinz, 2007) also found that
women portray empathic thinking when it comes to making a moral judgment. The reason for
this gender orientation in terms of empathic reasoning has been attributed to the fact that parents
use more emotion words when communicating with their daughters as compared to their sons
(Adams, 1995 in Prinz, 2007). Prinz (2007) also states eight different concerns and shortcomings
related empathy, which are empathy isnt motivating, it leads to preferential treatment, may be
subject to unfortunate biases including cuteness effects, it can be easily manipulated, can be
highly selective, is prone to in-group bias, is subject to proximity effects and to salience effects.
While recognizing these limitations, he states that they are limitations that can be overcome and
requires two fundamental changes individuals will need to do something to give empathy a
boost in order to promote action; individuals will need to overcome the selective nature of
empathy by devising a way to empathize with a broader range of people: a mechanism to
determine moral considerability.
MODELS OF EMPATHY
ROGERS CONTRIBUTION:
Rogers theory is partly based on phenomenological philosophy, according to which a persons
actions are determined by his or her perceptions of his world. Thus, for Rogers it was important
to understand how clients perceived the world around rather than trying to understand the factual

circumstances. Rogers therapy mainly aimed at providing an atmosphere of acceptance and

openness to new ideas and behaviors, which could be created only by conditions of genuineness,
positive regard, and empathy. He believed that these three factors are the only necessary
conditions for therapeutic improvement. Under these conditions, Rogers maintained, the client
could find his or her own best way.
FLEISSS MODEL OF EMPATHY
Fleiss called empathy a trial identification. His model explained how the therapist is the object of
the patient's striving and how he /she identified with the patient, and became the patient. After
the therapist experiences the patient's striving, it is projected back onto the patient with inside
knowledge of its nature. This process helps the therapist acquire the emotional basis for his/her
interpretation. Fleiss uses the process of identification as well as the process of projecting back
inside knowledge of the patient's experience.
GREENSON'S MODEL OF EMPATHY
Greenson articulated another model of empathy that is experiential in nature. The therapist feels
"out of it" in the therapeutic situation initially, but gradually allows him/herself to become the
client. The therapist then listens through the "working model" of the client by listening to the
client's words, and then transforming them into pictures and feelings from the client's memories.
The therapist then uses his/her own experiences similar to the client to make emotional contact
and experiences a feeling of "aha." Finally the therapist communicates this understanding to the
client. To build this working model, the therapist begins with everything known of the client,
including experiences, behaviours, memories, fantasies, dreams and defenses. As resistance
diminishes, the therapist's theoretical knowledge, clinical experience, and view of the patient's

potentials are added. Finally, the therapist adds his /her experiences with similar situations and
people.
KOHUTS MODEL OF EMPATHY
Kohut believed that the experience-distanced way the psychoanalytic therapist interacted with
the client was not beneficial. By experience-distant he meant a way of knowing the client in
which the therapist observed the clients free associations and then uses those observations in
combination with theory to detect patterns of unconscious meaning. Kohut in contrast wanted to
give empathy a central role in therapy, as he believed it is important that therapist tries to
understand what was going on inside the client in an experience-near way. This meant that the
therapist had to put him/herself, through a process of vicarious introspection, into the mental
life of the client.
JORDAN'S MODEL OF EMPATHY
Jordan articulated a more contemporary model of empathy. According to her, the process starts
with a motivation towards relatedness with another and involves a surrender of one's affective
arousal in response to the other after which there is a temporary identification with the other.
Simultaneously, one knows the source of affect in the other. The affect subsides into an increased
feeling of separateness after temporary identification with the other. From this process, one has
the ability to help the other understand his/her world better. Jordan explains that while temporary
identification is occurring, the person experiencing it is also aware that the source of affect is in
the other. Thus, Jordan conceptualizes empathy as having cognitive and affective parts. This
dualistic nature of empathy allows an affective connection in other words identification to occur
simultaneously with a cognitive separateness (source of affect as in the other).

Theories of Empathy: Simulation Theory and Theory of Mind

Empathy is the ability to understand the perspective or the frame of reference of another
individual. The capacity to see or view the situation from another persons point of view means
to empathize with another. Empathy is a way of improving ones own altruistic behavior.
Howard Gardner (1983) strongly believes that empathy is an integral part of intelligence and the
empathetic skills can be taught, practiced and grown.
Of all the theories proposed on empathy, the following two has gained the most prominence,
them being, the Simulation Theory and the Theory of Mind.
1) Simulation Theory
The simulation theory was proposed by Alvin Goldman and Robert Gordon, where they
emphasis the nature of the mind as well as its relationship with the brain.
According to this theory, humans anticipate the behavior of others and use their own emotions to
predict the behavior that others will do. So, this includes both, expression of emotions as well as
producing intentional behavior.
This theory lays emphasis on Mirror Neurons, which was first discovered in macaque monkeys
which provided a physiological mechanism between perception and action, and then
hypothesized to the similar neuron system as the human brain. The mirror neuron tries to
understand and explain the emotions experienced by an individual and upon recognizing the
emotion, mirrors the observed action. The response of these mirror neurons can change upon the
context as well.
For example: You see a person crying, it is rather unlikely that we would laugh at the person, we
are more likely to hear the person out or be there for the person.

The drawback of this theory is that it can predict only certain behaviors but fails to explain the
underlying values or beliefs with regard to the situation. There will be situations where
individuals would mirror or express certain emotions without genuinely feeling them, or with the
knowledge that it is not the right thing to do.
2) Theory of Mind
In simple terms, theory of mind is the ability to attribute certain beliefs, values, desires, intention
and knowledge to oneself and others with the attempt at understanding the perspectives of others
that differs from our own.
It is known as the theory of mind (TOM) because each person creates and has the access to the
existence if their own mind through introspection and experience. With the theory of mind, we
tend to point out certain features in ourselves and that knowledge helps us predict behavior of
those around us. It is often related to the concept of Empathy, as it involves in recognizing and
understanding the states of others and is often characterized by putting yourself in the shoes of
the other.
The concept of theory of mind has grown rapidly over the years and is attempting to find out if it
works in the same manner for children, adults and animals alike. The emerging field of cognitive
neuroscience has begun to support this theory, wherein brain imaging of humans performing
tasks that involves understanding the emotions of others.

CASE STUDY

Presenting Problem and Circumstances of Refferal (Gicheru, 2012).

The subject of this case study is a client called Annette. She dropped out of school due to
pregnancy at the age of 16 years. I chose this client because of the complexity and variety of
issues that emerged as her story unfolded. She was struggling to come to terms with her jail term
of eleven years, and had served for four months, having been convicted of assault of her cousin.
Annette was bitter that her husband had infected her with HIV as well as her cousin who had a
mental condition. He impregnated the cousin which led to his life imprisonment. Annette was
concerned and confused about her children which made me very empathic. I realized this was an
opportunity to work with a variety of therapeutic perspectives to help my client meet her
emotional needs. Annette is under HIV medication and seems to be unhappy and bitter.
Exploration of her past life revealed that she felt much resentment towards her siblings who had
rejected her and were not visiting her in jail. She had feelings of deep anger towards her sister
who had refused to bribe the judge which caused the judge to give her what she described as
unfair sentence. The judgment of her case was televised and published in the print media which
made her feel distressed that many people including her children had watched the story. She felt
hopeless, and had suicidal thoughts due to her status, being in jail and the fact she may never see
her children again. There were no earlier attempts by my client to resolve the problem as she had
only received counseling seven years ago when she tested HIV+. (Gicheru, 2012).
This is A case study of a Counseling Process of an Inmate in a Kenyan Prison by Dr. Esther
Gicheru, (Ag. Principal) Co-operative University, College of Kenya (Gicheru, 2012).
Dr. Gicherus primary aim was to build a strong therapeutic alliance with Annette (Gicheru,
2012). Her major focus was to attend to Annette by active listening, understanding and

responding to her regarding how she saw herself and her concerns (Gicheru, 2012). Her other
objectives were to help in identifying the real problem situation, setting goals, her unutilized
resources and opportunities to solve or minimize the problem situations (Gicheru, 2012). Another
priority of Dr. Gicheru was to try and help Annette to get her to meet her emotional needs
primarily through the therapeutic relationship (Gicheru, 2012).
Apart from using Psychoanalytic Approach, Gestalt Approach and other techniques and
approaches, she used the Person-Centered Approach as the primary focus was to understand and
provide solutions to Annette (Gicheru, 2012). Gicherus goal was to provide a permissive and
non-directive atmosphere in order to encourage Annette to share more and for self-directed
growth (Gicheru, 2012). One of the major issues Dr. Gicheru dealt with, mainly by empathising
with her was about how Annettes sister has rejected her (Gicheru, 2012). Another area that must
be given utmost importance is to differentiate between empathy and sympathy. Annette spoke
about how her empathy bordered on sympathy sometimes (Gicheru, 2012). A therapist must be
aware of this and not allow sympathy to interfere in the counselling process as it would disrupt
the goal of the entire process.
Since Dr. Gicheru established such a strong and trusting alliance and used the element of
empathy, Annette opened up a lot. Several areas of Annettes life were explored and a number of
themes emerged (Gicheru, 2012). Annette was able to explain a number of issues and this helped
in Annettes personal growth as the therapist was able to help her in a much more efficient way.
It was very important for the therapist to establish such a therapeutic alliance and use empathy
since Annette was in jail for years and did not really have the opportunity to share all her feelings
and concerns (Gicheru, 2012). Thus, by empathizing, Annette felt warmth and support and did
not feel judged which led her to open us as a trusting alliance was already established. The

therapist succeeded in not only getting Annette to express her feelings and concerns but also
helped her form a meaningful definition of herself (Gicheru, 2012). Annette did not speak of her
death anymore and was much more confident about her ways of handling stressful situations
better (Gicheru, 2012).
Dr. Gicheru definitely faced challenges and difficulties through the process of helping Annette,
however she was very much aware of the issues she faced. Some ethical and other issues cropped
up, but she managed it well which also became like lessons she learned for future situations. She
used self-disclosure in the process as she was sure it would benefit Annette. She also used
Gestalt and REBT approaches in order to bring about awareness and alternative thinking patterns
in Annette (Gicheru, 2012).
From the above I would like to conclude by saying that empathy is important regardless of which
approach is being used. It aids in opening a wide range of horizons and helps the therapist obtain
a better understanding of the clients world and environment. The therapist will then be in a
better situation to incorporate the appropriate techniques and approaches to help the client solve
his or her problems. Also by being empathic, the therapist conveys to the client that he is
genuinely interested, actively listening, genuinely wants to provide solutions, is non-judgmental
and finally provide a forum for the client to express his or her feelings and concerns.
IMPORTANCE OF EMPATHY IN COUNSELLING
Empathy is the most essential skill in counseling that is needed for the counselor to
involve in counseling effectively. During the developmental stage of counseling psychology Karl
Roger emphasized the need of empathetic understanding in counseling. "it is hard to envision
effective counseling it the counselor if the counselor is not able to empathize with the client and

his or her issue."(Fretz & Gelso, 1998.)"Empathy is often defined as experiencing the world as
if you were the client but with the awareness that the client remains separate from you."( Ivey &
Ivey, 2007.) There are different stages of empathy used in counseling. The first stage is to
experience the emotions of the client through the process of identification. The second stage is
cognitive activity in which counselor consciously goes through the clients expression and finds
its meaning. the thirst stage is the communication of that empathy to the client. (Fretz & Gelso,
1998.)
In counseling psychology mainly there are two kinds of empathy. The first one is the
affective empathy and the other one is cognitive empathy. In the affective empathy the counselor
identifies with the client and actually feels what client feels on the particular situation. it is more
like the emotional expression of the empathy. (Fretz & Gelso, 1998.) In the cognitive empathy
the counselor takes in the clients perspective and comprehends the feelings of the client. (Fretz &
Gelso, 1998.)
Uses of empathy in counseling
1. Build the relationship
2. Stimulate self-exploration
3. Check understanding
4. Provide support
5. Assist communication
6. Focus attention on the client

Empathic Dimensions in counseling

There are different empathetic dimensions in counseling. Some of them are the following.
1. Positive regard
Selectively attending to positive aspects and responding to the client as a worthy human
being. In a subtractive response, the counselor finds something wrong with the client. In an
interchangeable response, the counselor reflects accurately what the client talks about. In an
additive response, the counselor points out how, even in the most difficult situation, the client is
doing something positive. (Ivey & Ivey, 2007.)
2. Respect and warmth
It is demonstrated by open posture, smiling, and vocal qualities. Empathy fosters mutual
respect, warmth in counseling.
3. Concreteness
It seeks specific feelings, thoughts, descriptions, and examples of actions. Through the
empathetic action counselor can get into the clients world.
4. Immediacy
It is being in the moment with the client. Most useful response generally is in the present
tense. The more personal the relationship between the client and therapist, the more immediate
it is. (Ivey & Ivey, 2007.)
5. Nonjudgmental attitude

The counselor should suspend his own opinions and attitudes and needs to assume a
value of neutrality. It is expressed through vocal qualities, body language, and neutral statements.
One cannot help clients grow unless you are able to be nonjudgmental in the session, toward
them. ( Ivey & Ivey, 2007.) This does not mean that you agree with them; rather it means that
you ultimately respect them as the person they can be.
6. Authenticity or congruence
The counselor should be authentic in his words and action to express empathy toward the
client. Authenticity and congruence are the reverse of discrepancies and mixed messages. Unless
you are authentically you, the client will have difficulty trusting you, regardless of what you say
or do. (Ivey & Ivey, 2007.)

Reference

Ivey, A. E. & Ivey, M. B., (2007). Intentinal interviewing and counselling, (6th ed.). Thomson
Books. Belmont.
Geslo, C. J. & Fretz, B. R., (2001). Counselling Psychology. William James Centennial series.
Gicheru, D. E. (2012, December). International Journal of Humanities and Social Science.
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http://www.empathyed.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=40:empathy-intheory&layout=blog&Itemid=62
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind