The Distinction Between Compassion vs Sympathy
The compassionate witness vs. energy draining unhelpful service. *Downloadable empowerment worksheet included!
It can be difficult to define the difference between compassion and sympathy. But as a healer, coach, or therapist, I feel like it’s important to know this difference. When we move into sympathy, we are moving into judgment.
In almost every interaction we have with people, we have the opportunity to approach the conversation with compassion or with sympathy. Most often, when someone tells us something and we start thinking to ourselves that we are sorry for them, it often means there’s something within us related to that issue that needs to be worked on, or we’re judging and assuming.
Assuming closes off our capacity to allow for helpful and impactful healing to take place, because we block our ability to actually create the space for that healing to occur.
Judging and sympathizing is draining. How many times have you felt depleted after having a conversation with someone who is communicating their problems or worries?
In a client interaction: What’s the focus and what is the deeper need? Typically, as a counselor, guide, or coach, you want to guide them to pull out the answers from within them. You don’t want to give them the answers.
It can be very hard to do this if we are choosing to sympathize, rather than be the compassionate witness.
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