How to develop empathy? Exercises and types of empathy

It is very important when there are people in the environment who sincerely can support you, get into your position, empathize. Such properties are, unfortunately, not all. They are empaths, people who have the ability to feel the inner emotional world of others.

According to Z. Freud, people with empathic abilities can not only objectively evaluate and understand the feelings of another, but also miss these experiences through themselves.

This article will help you learn how to develop empathy.

What is empathy?

Empathy is not just the ability to empathize and feel someone else's soul, but the ability to understand the mental and emotional state of a person, to feel his emotions and at the same time to realize that they belong to him.

Empath - the person who owns his subconscious.

Empathy is not a reading of the inner emotional world of another person from his facial expressions and gestures. The true empathy does not need all this.

Empathic communication has several levels. Simply put, it's like living a different life, while you need to leave your own and penetrate into the spiritual world of another person. Entering into this state, the empath does not turn off his sensitivity, thereby monitoring the emotional change of the opponent's mood.

If possible, how to develop empathy?

Empathy - empathy conscious, it can be learned, but it will seem extremely difficult for people who have never felt before. In an instant it is impossible to change. This will take a long time, first you need to change your beliefs.

In the opinion of psychologists, this is a natural gift, therefore, if there are makings of empathy, it can be trained and improved.

Development of empathy

1. Begin to trace the gestures and facial expressions of other people. This will help to learn how to feel their emotional state. Watch people, study character traits, observe from the side. This will help not only learn a lot, but will also allow you to learn how to objectively evaluate your actions. You look, how the person behaves in different situations, in which he is more nervous or shows excitement.
2. Arouse sensitivity in yourself towards others, help everyone who needs help, by virtue of their capabilities.
3. Practice the method of listening. This is the most important point. You need to learn to hear another person. To give this process wholeheartedly, not to interrupt, in any case not to criticize, not to make negative conclusions, not to set any guidelines. You just need to bare your soul, leave everything beyond your "I" and completely immerse yourself in your opponent.
4. Talk with strangers. Do not wait for you to be asked for help, if you see a frustrated person crying, come up, try to console. Do not immediately climb with questions, people are different, there are closed. And some will gladly respond to your offer of help, sometimes it is easier for an outsider to tell about their everyday problems.
5. Read books, art and science, any literature that will help you in self-improvement. Learn the techniques, practice them. Draw conclusions from the read. This is sure to come in handy in practice. All this will help develop the ability of empathy.
6. Having penetrated the feelings of another person, check yourself if you have identified them correctly.

Thus, one can understand how to develop empathy.

A good training will be participation in the production of artistic sketches. This is a great practice in memorizing persons, in the ability to look at oneself from the outside, to reincarnate in other people, birds and even animals.

How to develop empathy yet? This will also help role-playing, dancing, watching touching movies, listening to good music. We must strive to develop our own emotional sensitivity, along with empathy.

How to develop empathy in an adult? This can be achieved at special training. It is better to train in the company of a group of people. It can be relatives, family, colleagues or friends.

How to develop empathy: Exercises

1. You need to guess the emotion. Each participant of the game is given leaflets, on which a certain feeling is described. And one by one shows him, everyone guessed.
2. "Reflection in the Mirror." One participant becomes a mirror, and another looks at it and shows different gestures and facial expressions. The task of the first is to repeat everything, to reflect. This exercise is conducted in pairs. In a few minutes people change roles.
3. "Talking on the phone". One person allegedly talks on the phone without saying a word, the other's task is to guess with whom he is talking.

This is only a small list of games and exercises for the development of empathy. In fact, their huge number, and therefore for yourself you can choose the right option definitely.

Well, the feeling of empathy is developed in the adult.

What is he, this unique person - empath?

People who have achieved through self-improvement a high level of empathy, first, are very kind, and this is a genuine quality. Secondly, they are compassionate, sincere, sensitive, attentive, they will never blame anyone for their own failures. Are merciful.

These people competently manage their emotions. Otherwise, they can lead to terrible consequences associated with the deterioration of their own health.

Being an empath is a true gift. There would be more such people in our world, country, society, how many wars, troubles and misfortunes could be avoided. Therefore, both adults and children need to develop the ability of empathy.

Is it worth developing empathy in a child?

Of course yes. This is the most beautiful life experience in knowing yourself and others. The child gradually develops sensitivity.

The first desires of empathy arise from infancy. When the baby begins to react to the crying and cries of other children. Two- and three-year-olds already learn the emotions of not only their own, but also those around them. In this case, the child does not just empathize, but can already express sympathy for another child.

Development lasts up to ten years. Already at this age they are able to empathize with close people and can take their place.

If you see the aggression of the child, which manifests itself in relation to other children and even toys, it is worthwhile to sound the alarm. It is necessary to fight against this, so that later we do not have to solve even bigger problems.

It is possible to judge empathy in children by studying how much it is developed in parents. If they have the above qualities, then the children will become empaths, certainly.

Of course, its development will also depend on the psychological environment in which the child is brought up. In a good family, this is a manifestation of love, warmth, kindness, affection, tenderness.

Well, this is not enough, the development of empathy lies entirely with the parents. Why? Because compassion and empathy is not just the spiritual development of the child, but also the study of the relationship between people. Children begin to look around to others and are already trying to project their emotions onto themselves, that is, to look for similar experiences with their feelings in them.

So, now it is clear why it is necessary to develop empathy in children.

Development of empathy in adolescents

Family is the foundation. Its walls are love, respect, mutual understanding, caress, empathy, polite communication with children. A child can not develop empathy on his own. He does not understand the feeling of pain. Therefore, those teens have the makings of empathy that lived in our imaginary home.

Empathy in adolescents is possible only if they have a good, sincere relationship with their parents. If this contact is broken, the child's psyche is the first to suffer, which, of course, will negatively affect his development.

To have empathy means to be able to empathize and understand the emotional soul world of another person, be it pain or joy. Therefore, it is vital to give the teenager a strong, trusting, friendly foundation.

How to develop empathy in children?

The best experience is transmitted through games. For example:

1. You can read a story full of emotions, and then with the children discuss each hero, describe their character traits, sum up some result.
2. If they could speak fish that live in an aquarium, and marine life, what could they tell?
3. What did the kids think, when a wolf made their way into their house, did they get scared or did not understand anything? And what did you feel when he was in his stomach?

Through role-playing games the child learns to reincarnate, at the same time develops soulfulness and thus begins to understand the emotional world of another person.

Let the child come up with a fairy tale in the name of a fox or giraffe who live in a zoo, and then in freedom.

What does a leaf feel when it is torn from a tree or a bush?

You can play games on associations, for example, show children different objects or figures. Of course, they will understand that they are all different, and you can draw a parallel that people are also different, but they need to be understood, so that everyone would be happy, comfortable to live and be together.

Thanks to the above examples, it is clear how to develop empathy in a child.

It must be developed! This will make our world more kind and quality. People are increasingly locked in themselves, they think only about their personal lives, they do not care about other people's problems. This is scary. If everyone starts to think about this situation and solve it, it will be easier for everyone to live and interact with each other.