3 Empathetic Listening Exercises

3 Empathetic Listening Exercises

In this post, we’ll share 3 empathetic learning exercises that will help you practice empathy in your everyday experiences.

We’re really breaking empathy down into a simple, 3-step process.  Each step can be practiced on its own and developed on its own.

You can improve your empathy skills as you practice them, just like any other skill!

 

3 Empathetic Listening Exercises

 

1.  Hear It

Practice really hearing the emotional experience that someone else is expressing to you and really try to understand it.

 

2.  Connect It

Try bringing another person’s experience in and connecting it with a similar experience you’ve had on your own. You likely will not have had the exact same experience, but you’ve likely experienced that emotion before.

For example, if you hear that the other person is scared or really sad, you can connect it to a time when you felt scared or sad. This allows you to better understand their experience.

 

3.  Express It

Express your understanding to the person by saying something back to them that shows your understanding of how they feel.

Here are a couple of examples:

“That sounds really frightening.” or “It’s so hard when we have these experiences.”

 

 

We hope you can remember these 3 empathetic learning exercises next time you need them:

Hear It. Connect It. Express It.

 

 

Mental Health Week Canada 2022 is all about Empathy. We hope you’ll find value in this opportunity to learn more about the importance and impact of empathy.  The article linked above explains empathy this way:

When someone is struggling, they don’t always need someone to swoop in and fix things for them. First, they need someone to understand where they’re coming from.