# Sympathy Versus Empathy

Distinguish sympathy ('I feel sorry for you') from empathy ('I understand what you're experiencing'); develop active listening skills: reflecting, paraphrasing, asking open questions, resisting the urge to problem-solve too quickly; understand empathic curiosity as genuine interest in another person's inner world; practise being present for someone in distress without trying to fix or minimise their experience; understand vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue, and how empathetic people can protect their own wellbeing while staying present for others

Builds on: Questioning Your Own Biases (hard, https://ai.page/c/questioning-your-own-biases/en.md), Systemic Inequality and Allyship (hard, https://ai.page/c/systemic-inequality-and-allyship/en.md)

Concept id: sympathy-versus-empathy. Subject: personal-development. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.

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