Empathy

We would have come across the word "empathy" many a times in our life. It is about understanding other persons internal feelings and emotions and walk along with them, be with that person, completely present - physically and mentally and accepting the individual as it is, the way he or she is.

Immediately, the answer that POPS IN OUR MIND --- this is what I have been doing.

Simply being with the affected person does not become empathy, if we start giving solutions for each and every problem, it never is empathy. we have to give them space and time for them to make a come back or reconcile and interact with the individual with complete co-regulation by giving the individual a safe and trusted environment, non-judgementally. The term non-judgemental is very difficult to achieve as we all are trained to judge every situation and individual based on our past memories of experiences. The key factors to consider here is,

• Does the individual never have the ability to realize his or her mistakes ?

• Does being judgemental helps you to overcome your anxiety or increase it instead?

• If, as a family, you are not ready to give that space to grow, do you believe the individual will be able to overcome the present situation?

• When you faced a crisis, does everyone around you judged you based on your past negative behaviours and attitudes? If so, did that help you out? Did you feel attached to that person who was always judging you or felt at the edge?

If you want to be a bouncing board for your loved one, how can you become non-judgemental, and just be a good listener and give your suggestions only in the point of interest of the individual, do read our subsequent posts.