Learning to Give Empathy
A personal journey into listening, holding, and being held. A few months ago, I wrote about receiving empathy. Today, I’m writing about giving it, which, I’m realizing, is a whole other challenge. The more I think about empathy, the more I believe that giving and receiving it might be one of the most important ingredient in the healing process. Unfortunately, many of us were never taught how to give empathy growing up, and so we end up lacking that skill, as friends, partners, husbands or wives, caregivers, or parents… for the people we love. I know I wasn’t. On the receiving end, many of us haven’t received much, and we might not even realize that empathy is what we’ve been needing deep down. I certainly didn’t. If you’re a coach...
