Empathy is an essential leadership skill and a cornerstone of good relationships—but it can be hard to access when it's most needed. Luckily, empathy is also a learnable skill, with the power to move conversations out of gridlock and pain. With mindfulness, empathy has deescalated conflicts, combated loneliness, and built human connections in the most unlikely places. With this book, readers will learn how anger and blame get translated and productive dialogues made possible, how to repair arguments before they cause damage, and how self-empathy transforms relationships. With more than 70 stories collected from Nonviolent Communication trainers and practitioners around the world, readers will encounter new ways to talk to the people in their lives and learn techniques for empathizing with one's self and with others at home, at work, and in the community.
“This book explains not only the healing power of compassionate human connection, but in the most accessible and practical ways, how to cultivate our capacity to create that connection and thereby empower others to find their best selves.”—John Makransky, author of Awakening through Love All of us have an innate capacity for compassion. We recognize when others are hurting, and we want to help, but we’re not always good at it. There is another way. In The Compassionate Connection, Dr. David Rakel explains how we can strengthen our bonds with others—all the while doing emotional and physical good for ourselves. As founder and director of the University of Wisconsin Integrative Medicine program, Dr. Rakel discovered that we become the most effective helpers when we use the tool of human connection. Drawing on his own research and practice, as well as thirty years of published studies in medicine, sociology, psychology, meditation, and neuroscience, Dr. Rakel "stacks the deck" in favor of healing and introduces the concept of bio-psycho-spiritual authentic awareness. Not only are our bodies and minds connected, but also it has been scientifically proven that our capacity to feel beauty, awe, and compassion enhances our health and wellbeing. In The Compassionate Connection, Dr. Rakel provides an innovative approach to enhancing health in others and strengthening relationships through the art of connecting. These tools guide us to improve our connections—whether between doctor and patient, husband and wife, parent and child, or boss and employee—and live with clarity, wisdom, and good health.
What is the difference between having empathy and being an empath? “Having empathy means our heart goes out to another person in joy or pain,” says Dr. Judith Orloff “But for empaths it goes much farther We actually feel others’ emotions, energy, and physical symptoms in our own bodies, without the usual defenses that most people have.” With The Empath’s Survival Guide, Dr. Orloff offers an invaluable resource to help sensitive people develop healthy coping mechanisms in our high-stimulus world—while fully embracing the empath’s gifts of intuition, creativity, and spiritual connection. In this practical and empowering book for empaths and their loved ones, Dr. Orloff begins with self-assessment exercises to help you understand your empathic nature, then offers potent strategies for protecting yourself from overwhelm and replenishing your vital energy For any sensitive person who’s been told to “grow a thick skin,” here is your lifelong guide for staying fully open while building resilience, exploring your gifts of deep perception, raising empathic children, and feeling welcomed and valued by a world that desperately needs what you have to offer.
Discover your innate empathic abilities with popular author Cyndi Dale as your guide. With this hands-on training course, you'll learn how to comfortably use empathy for better relationships and healing the self and others. The Spiritual Power of Empathy presents this often-unrecognized ability in accessible ways, allowing you to discover an expanded awareness of what empathy is, how it works, and the myriad ways it manifests. Develop deeper connections with your loved ones, use specialized techniques for screening and filtering information, and gain insights on how to overcome the difficulties empaths often face. With the power of empathy, you'll transform the way you live and connect with the world around you. 2015 IPPY Award Gold Medal Winner in New Age (Mind-Body-Spirit)
Empathy, an innate human capacity that gives us the ability to understand the unique experiences of another person, is the most overlooked component of relationships. By allowing us to connect with one another on a meaningful and fulfilling level, it "can help and heal us all. This excellent book shows you how" (Edward Hallowell, M.D., author of Connect). Using a practical and inspiring plan for making empathy a vital part of your everyday life, discover: -- Why empathy is crucial to finding love -- How to be an empathic listener -- How empathy can improve sex and create lasting intimacy -- How empathy differs from sympathy -- 10 steps to avoiding the pitfalls of negative empathy -- How empathy can help rebuild a relationship and restore confidence, trust, and faith Prescriptive and provocative, The Power of Empathy shows us how we can transform our lives -- and the lives of those we love.
"The New York Times bestselling author of Dying to Be Me returns with an inspirational guide for sensitive people looking to fully harness their gifts of intuition and empathy in today's harsh world"--
With The Empathy Effect, Dr. Helen Riess shares a definitive resource on empathy: the science behind how it works, new research on how empathy develops from birth to adulthood, and tools for building your capacity to create an authentic emotional connection with others in any situation.
Conventional wisdom has always held that when we help others, some of the good we do flows back to us. That satisfaction has always been thought to be largely emotional—feeling good when you do good. Now important, widely discussed research shows that helping others regularly produces significant health benefits as well—in fact, it has effects similar to those many of us experience when we exercise. It is almost impossible to read this book without wanting to do good. Both for those who are already volunteering and for those who are considering it, this valuable personal guide tells you how to choose an activity that’s right for you, how to maximize the health benefits, and how to overcome the main obstacle to getting started: lack of time. The Healing Power of Doing Good reaffirms and explains that when we care for others we care for ourselves. It is an important book for those suffering from chronic health problems as well as the health conscious, anyone interested in how our mind affects our body, and people in the helping professions. And it reminds us that never has there been such a need for caring as there is today.
The groundbreaking exploration of the power of empathy by renowned child-psychiatrist Bruce D. Perry, co-author, with Oprah Winfrey, of What Happened to You? Born for Love reveals how and why the brain learns to bond with others—and is a stirring call to protect our children from new threats to their capacity to love. “Empathy, and the ties that bind people into relationships, are key elements of happiness. Born for Love is truly fascinating.” — Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project From birth, when babies' fingers instinctively cling to those of adults, their bodies and brains seek an intimate connection, a bond made possible by empathy—the ability to love and to share the feelings of others. In this provocative book, psychiatrist Bruce D. Perry and award-winning science journalist Maia Szalavitz interweave research and stories from Perry's practice with cutting-edge scientific studies and historical examples to explain how empathy develops, why it is essential for our development into healthy adults, and how to raise kids with empathy while navigating threats from technological change and other forces in the modern world. Perry and Szalavitz show that compassion underlies the qualities that make society work—trust, altruism, collaboration, love, charity—and how difficulties related to empathy are key factors in social problems such as war, crime, racism, and mental illness. Even physical health, from infectious diseases to heart attacks, is deeply affected by our human connections to one another. As Born for Love reveals, recent changes in technology, child-rearing practices, education, and lifestyles are starting to rob children of necessary human contact and deep relationships—the essential foundation for empathy and a caring, healthy society. Sounding an important warning bell, Born for Love offers practical ideas for combating the negative influences of modern life and fostering positive social change to benefit us all.
Through 5 practical steps, Dr. Judith Orloff's guide will show you how to recapture, nurture, and affirm your intuitive ability, so that you can utilize it to help heal yourself. In her groundbreaking book, Dr. Orloff leads readers to the heart of a radical revolution in health care: the union of medicine and intuition, of body, mind, and soul. Intuition plays an indispensable role in self-diagnosis, pain control, immune response, and recovery from acute and chronic illness; it can lead you to breakthroughs in anxiety, panic, depression, and other emotional blockages, even when traditional psychotherapy has failed. Intuition also offers insights into the use of medications and the selection of the right healer for your needs. Further, it is integral for sexual healing, since sexuality is a potent connector and energy source for clarifying spirituality and improving vitality. With Dr. Orloff's five practical steps, you'll learn to clarify your beliefs, listen to your body's messages, access inner guidance, sense subtle energy, and interpret your dreams. Practicing the steps, you'll recognize early warning signals and act on them to help prevent illness. You'll have skills to uncover important information from meditation and remote viewing (a way of intuitively tuning in) to make sense of confusing signals. The insights you'll gain from these tools will lend reason, compassion, and meaning to events such as illness, loss, or despair. Following Dr. Orloff's simple, clear instructions, illustrated with examples from her own experience and psychiatric practice, you'll recapture a sense of vision that will bring vibrance to all that you do. "Our intuition can open us up to our spirituality and show us how to be more healthy and whole," writes Dr. Orloff. "If you're in good health, you'll want to know about intuition because it can help you stay well and recognize messages that prevent illness. If you or your loved ones need healing, you'll also want intuition to show the way." Written with abundant warmth, humor, and compassion, this guide is your companion to a healthier, more fulfilling life.
