Empathy, Sympathy & Compassion Defined

In this Health-FULL episode, we discuss the differences between Sympathy, Empathy & Compassion. What is a healthy state to deliver care in?  Is it good for mental health to be in a constant state of empathy? 

Being in a position of balanced mental health and wellness is extremely important to avoid the jaws of stress and anxiety.  Taking on emotional patterns of others by unknowingly being too empathetic, can be damaging in the long-term. 

We discuss real life scenarios with our patients that have shaped us into the practitioners we are today.  This is a vulnerable episode.  We discuss patient mortality, and the first time we had a patient pass away - while they were under our care umbrella. We elaborate on our grief and chat about the amazing relationships that are formed with patients over the course of many years, 

We love this Health-FULL topic and hope you enjoy the show. 

Yours in health, Monica & Forrest

Episode Summary

- Intros
- Where should we sit in the Empathy, Sympathy, and Compassion scale as therapists?
- How being empathetic is a blessing and a curse
- Monica delivers a story about the death of her first patient
- Forrest shares about the death of his first patient
- Being triggered by our patient's emotions and how to approach that in a healthy compassionate way 
- We can choose compassion and to protect ourselves
-  4 pillars of compassion and how to achieve compassion toward others
- personal ethics vs. professional ethics
- "Do no harm"  through compassion 
- Sharing personal experiences with patients - is it ok?  If so, in what context?
- Redirecting conversation back to our patients always
-  The "You're not alone, I've been there too" approach
- Authenticity and being genuine, in the face of compassion
- Patient autonomy and being respectful of that
- Creating boundaries around our emotions 
- Using hand signals :)  Helping patients feel safe and like they have an "out" if a topic is not safe for them
- "I statements" vs. "You statements"
- Having a heart and caring is a GOOD thing
- Conclusion