1. Empathy
By Ashley Winters

2. What is Empathy?
“to put yourself in his or her shoes”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOjL6baO
wu0

3. Background Info
-origin of the word empathy dates back to the
1880’s
-German psychologist Theodore Lipps
-coined the term “einfuhlung” (in feeling)
-then meant to describe the emotional appreciation
of another’s feelings
-now commonly referred to as process of
understanding a person’s subjective experience
by vicariously sharing that experience while
maintaining an observant stance

4. Medical Field
Empathy is commonly referred to in the
medical work force because it applies directly
to a characteristic nurses and physicians need
to have in order to diagnose and treat
patients.

5. Differences in Similar Terms
• Pity -describes a relationship which separates
physician and patient
-often condescending and may entail
feelings of contempt and rejection
• Sympathy -physician experiences feelings as if he
or she were the sufferer
-shared feelings
• Empathy -“borrows” another’s feelings to
observe, feel, and understand but not to take
them upon ourselves

7. DYAMOND’S CONTRIBUTION (1949)
-empathetic person can
imaginatively take the role of
another and can understand and
accurately predict the person’s
thoughts, feelings, and actions

8. Evolution
-term originally believed by all researchers to be
innate and impossible to acquire
-either born with it or not
-now considered teachable and learnable by
some
-named as essential learning objective by the
American Association of Medical Colleges

9. American Association of Medical Colleges Could Be
Referring To. . .
Clinical Empathy-expanded defintion of empathy which
includes
-emotive: ability to imagine patient’s emotions and perspectives
-moral: the physician’s internal motivation to empathize
-cognitive: intellectual ability to identify and understand
patient’s emotions and perspectives
-behavioral: ability to convey understanding of those emotions
and perspectives back to the patient

10. Behavioral Empathy
-empathy mediates helping behaviors or
volunteering (nursing)
-associated with higher life statistics, well being,
and health promotion
-volunteerism provides man-power, saves
money, and is the backbone of many
organizations

11. Measurement of Empathy
-more than 20 different ways to measure
-very difficult to measure
-most studies use paper and pencil self
evaluations
Popular Ones Include:
-Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)
-Empathy Construct Rating Scale (ECRS)
-Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale

12. Study
-Hogan Empathy Scale and Adjective Check List
Empathy Scale
-tested 43 adults
-ages 63-96
-both test results showed mean score of older
generations was lower than that of the
younger

13. Medical Models
“The Four Habits Model” (Permenente Medical Group)
-Invest in the beginning, Elicit the patient’s
perspective, Demonstrate empathy, Invest in the end
“The Four E’s” ( Bayer Institute for Health Care
Communication)
-Engage, Empathize, Educate, Enlist
“The PEARLS” (American Academy on Physician and
Patient)
-Partnership, Empathy, Apology, Respect,
Legitimization, Support

14. Key Steps to Effective Empathy
-Frederic Platt-
-Recognizing presence of strong feelings in the clinical
setting (fear, grief, anger, disappointment)
-Pausing to imagine how the patient might be feeling
-Stating your perception of the patient’s feeling (I can
Imagine that must be…)
(It sounds like you’re upset about…)
-Legitimizing that feeling
-Respecting the patient’s effort to cope with the
predicament
-Offering support and partnership (I’m committed to
work with you to…)
(Let’s see what we can do together to…)

15. 5 Types of Empathetic Responses
1) reflective: “I can see that you are…”
“You seem to be…about this”
2) legitimizing: involves putting yourself in the other
person’s place
“I can understand why you’re feeling…”
3) supportive: suggests that you want to help in a
constructive way
“I’ll be here if you have any questions or
need any advice”
4) partnership building: suggests that you would like to
work as a team to solve the problem
“We’ll work together to do what’s best”
5) respectful: expresses admiration for the way in which
the patient is dealing with the situation
“You are coping well with this”

16. 5 Different States of Empathy
-different names for each term
-different ideas behind each name
-each is part of the mosaic that creates empathy
as a whole, even though some ideas seem
conflicting
Empathy As A. . .

17. 1) Human Trait
-innate
-natural ability
-cannot be taught but can be identified,
reinforced, and refined

18. 2) Professional Trait
-learned communication skill
-comprised of cognitive and behavioral ideas used
to convey understanding of clients reality back to
him or her
-learned phenomenon
-emotional distance
-appropriate professional response
-objectivity
-therapeutic role

19. 3) Communications Process
-goal is to leave the client feeling understood
-can be non-verbal (mentioned later)
-3 primary stages
a)empathy potential
b)empathy expressed
c)empathy recieved

20. 4) Caring
-understanding of a situation and compulsion ti act
because of experience of understanding
-goal is to alleviate emotional suffering
a)identification: losing consciousness of self and
becoming engrossed in the experience/ situation of
another
b)introjection: emotionally experiencing what another is
feeling
c)detachment: responsiveness to suffering
d)patient response: physical needs met or emotional
suffering alleviated

21. 5) Special Relationship
-reciprocal relationship to develop over time
-consists of 3 sequential stages
a)initiating
b)building
c)sustaining

22. Types of Non-Verbal Empathy
-tone of voice (lowered, sympathetic)
-facial expression (concerned)
-touch (caring, reassuring)

23. Ways to Improve Empathy
-review videotaped encounters
-do what feels comfortable
-develop styles that match your personality

24. Barriers to Giving Empathy
-“there is not enough time during the visit to
give empathy”
-“giving empathy is emotionally exhausting for
me”
-“I don’t want to open that Pandora’s box”
-“I’m concerned that if I use all my empathy at
work I won’t have anything left for family”
-“I haven’t had enough training in empathetic
communication”

25. Tying It All Together With Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGHbbJ5xz3
g&feature=related

26. References
An Introduction to Empathy (n.d.). Lifelong Independent Veterinary Education.
Retrieved
December 7, 2009, from
http://www.live.ac.uk/documents/intro_to_empathy.pdf
James, T. H. (2003). An Overview of Empathy. A Focus on Patient-Centered Care and
Office
Practice Management, 7. Retrieved from
http://xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/fall03/cpc.html
Kunyk, D., & Olson, J. (2001). Clarification of conceptualizations of empathy. Journal of
Advanced Nursing, 35(3), 317-325.
doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01848.x.
May, B., & Alligood, M. (2000). BASIC EMPATHY IN OLDER ADULTS:
CONCEPTUALIZATION, MEASUREMENT, AND APPLICATION. Issues in
Mental Health Nursing, 21(4), 375-386.
doi: 10.1080/016/28400247997.
Mehrabian, A., & Epstein, N. (1972). A measure of emotional empathy. Journal of
Personality.
Retrieved from
http://dionysus.psych.wisc.edu/Lit/Articles/MehrabianA1972a.pdf
Stephen, K., & Baernstein, A. (2006). Educating for Empathy. JGIM: Journal of General
Internal Medicine, 21(5), 524-530.
doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00443.x.