Empathy is, in its simplest form, an awareness of other people's feelings and emotions. It is a key element of emotional intelligence, the link between oneself and others, since this is how we, as individuals, understand what others are experiencing as if we felt it themselves. Empathy goes beyond sympathy, which could be considered "feeling for someone."
Empathy, on the other hand, is "feeling with" that person, through imagination (putting ourselves in their place). It is the quality that underlies love, care and compassion. Teaching teens to care for others and be empathetic will help them establish good social relationships. In this Psychology-Online article, we show you some ways to work empathy in adolescents.
Empathy can be defined as the ability to differentiate between one's own feelings from those of another person. It's about being able to put yourself in someone else's shoes and see things from their perspective, as well as regulate their own emotional responses. Empathy is a primary factor in the development of emotional intelligence.
These skills may seem like adult social skills. However, adults can have problems with them. For example, some people may refuse to help others who are in need not because they lack empathy. but because they may not have the ability to adequately cope with their own emotional reactions to certain situations.
The answer to this question is “Yes”. Empathy is a skill that can be learned and we can promote its development. Additionally, there are varying degrees of empathy, and with practice, we can strengthen it. For teens, being able to develop empathy is a crucial step in their development because improves social skills and your ability to care for others.
Some studies have shown that lack of empathy is a possible risk factor for the development of antisocial behaviors such as bullying or aggressive behaviors. When the person who produces this type of behavior is not able to recognize or identify the situation in which they are finds the victim and feels neither guilt nor regret will see no reason to change and will continue to do that kind of behaviors. Hence the importance of cultivating this skill.
Although there are also dynamics to practice empathy in adults, here we will focus on specific exercises to work it in adolescents. These are the best dynamics:
1. Develop a secure attachment with your teenager
When the emotional needs of a child or adolescent are addressed and met, adolescents are more likely to show empathy and help others who are in distress. As a parent, you can strive to develop a secure attachment type with your son. It is important that you show him that he can count on you when he needs emotional and physical support. Research shows that children who have parents who help them cope with negative emotions in a compassionate way and problem-oriented are more likely to show concern for other children, that is, to be more empathic.
2. Remember that your child is an independent individual
Treat your child as an independent person with a mind and interests of his own. Talk about her emotions and help her understand how feelings, desires, and emotions can influence behavior. You can teach him to recognize and label his feelings, as well as those he has observed in others, by modeling verbal expression.
For example, when you communicate with your child you can talk about your own feelings, thus you are providing an appropriate language to express emotions. In addition, you can use reflective listening to help you label the feelings of others by asking questions such as "You seem a little angry today, has something happened?" This will help you acknowledge your feelings and the importance of expressing them.
3. Models empathic behavior and induces feelings of sympathy
As parents, we can take advantage of everyday opportunities to point out situations where empathy is necessary. We can generate sympathetic responses in our children. For example, watching a movie or a television series we can see scenes in which there is bullying or cruel behavior. We can use these situations to ask you how you might feel the victim. By doing this, we are taking things one step further because we are not only labeling feelings, we are also helping to recognize opportunities where we can care about other people's emotional needs, brainstorming different ways to to help.
4. Help you put yourself in someone else's shoes
When teens identify or feel that another person is similar to them, they are more likely to empathize with that person. Therefore, a way of teaching them to develop their empathic skills it would help them discover what they have in common with other people. In addition, this is very important in a society like today's where new technologies raise debates. on the line that distances the real from the imaginary and there are rarely direct consequences for certain Actions. The more we can humanize the victim's anguish, the more empathy he will develop.
These are just a few ways to how to teach empathy to teens. In addition to teaching them to strengthen their empathic skills, we must also give them the opportunity to put them into practice. As parents, they can be helped to identify places where they can have the opportunity to work directly with people in situations of need, allowing them to begin to identify with those people and further strengthen their development empathic.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
