Empathy: Integrating Science and Social Work Practice Rachel Ledgerwood April 9, 2013
Barack Obama and Empathy As Social Workers empathy is a buzz word. Over the last 10 years enormous amounts of research has been carried out to elucidate the nature, mechanism and function of empathy. As we know empathy is particularly important to social workers, and has become increasingly important to the public, reaching the attention of current President Barack Obama. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69milkpjxia
Overview What is Empathy? Why does Empathy Matter? Can Science and Empathy Mix? What are the Components of Empathy? How can I improve my Skill?
What is Empathy? Social Work Dictionary: The act of perceiving, understanding, experiencing and responding to the emotional state of another person Empathy vs. Sympathy vs. Personal Distress: Empathy: Similarity in feelings experienced by the self and the other without confusion between the two Sympathy: Concern for another based on the apprehension or comprehension of the other s emotional state or condition Personal Distress: An aversive, self-focused emotional reaction to the apprehension or comprehension of another's emotional state (Decety & Ickes, 2009)
What is Empathy? Subjective and Communicated Aspects of Empathy (Gerdes & Segal, 2011) Subjective Experience Communicative Capability Feeling what another person Making emotional response to another person or sharing in is feeling person s emotional state Knowing what another person is feeling Cognitive capability to take perspective of the other person Having intention to respond compassionately to another person s distress Regulatory ability to separate feelings of self from feelings of other person
Empathy Scale There are many different measurements for empathy and as a result it can be difficult to engage in meaningful conclusions.
Why Does Empathy Matter? Next to death, solitary confinement is the greatest punishment for criminals. Why? Because we as humans are designed to be social creatures. An Important part of being social creatures is connecting to one another through empathy (Gerdes & Segal, 2011) (De Wall, 2009) Empathy is a tool for positive therapeutic intervention: Clients experiencing empathy through treatment by others inhibits antisocial behavior in children and adolescents Empathy inhibits aggression towards others Lack of empathy is correlated with bullying, violent crime and sexual offending A practitioners own level of empathy is correlated with positive client outcomes Therapist empathy, attention and positive regard are essential to effective communication
Can Science and Empathy Mix? Researchers within the social-cognitive neuroscience field base their work on observations from primatology. Their findings give empirical support to research on empathy in social interactions by revealing how empathy actually occurs in the brain. (De Wall, 2009)
Movie Clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f 2bk_9T482g
Observations Those I spoke to before class- what did you observe? Those I didn t speak to- describe your feelings/emotions while watching this clip
Monkey Business One day, a researcher who was studying brain activity in monkeys stumbled on a strange phenomenon: the monkey the researcher was studying showed brain activity that indicated he was eating when in fact he was motionless. After some investigation, the researcher realized that the monkey s brain was reacting to seeing another animal eat. In short, part of the motionless monkey s brain appeared to be actually experiencing the other monkey s sensations. Ultimately the scientists identified a class of cells in the brain called mirror cells, which fire when an individual observes another person/animal having some experience of sensation. (Gerdes & Segal, 2011)
Mirror Neurons (Gerdes & Segal, 2011) (Goleman, 1997) The discovery of mirror neurons shows that the phrase I feel your pain may literally be true- not that the speaker is actually experiencing the other person s feelings, but that the speaker s brain creates very real sensations in response to that other person s experience Psychologist Robert Zajonc (University of Michigan) conducted a study that proposed that people, often unconsciously, mimic the facial expressions of their spouses in a silent empathy and that, over the years, sharing the same expressions shapes the face similarly. For example, if one partner often smiles in a particular way, the other is likely to copy it - so creating similar patterns of wrinkles and furrows on the face.
Components of Empathy Decety and Larmm proposed the first interdisciplinary conceptualization of empathy. They found that there are three necessary components to generate empathy, and that all three work together: 1. Affective sharing between the self and other based on perception-action coupling which leads to shared representation (automatic) 2. Self-other awareness (learned) 3. Mental flexibility and emotion regulation (learned) (Decety & Ickes, 2009)
Affective sharing Observing client s mindfully Being fully attentive to another s behavior, gestures, facial expression, tone of voice, choice of words, body language, etc. Avoid theorizing, analyzing or pre-judging clients Empirical Observation at its purest Practice active listening
Self-Other Awareness True empathy cannot exist without a strong sense of self as separate from others. -Many Social Workers have strong ability to share client s feelings, but must also be able to disengage from their clients to avoid enmeshment or burnout from over-sympathizing. -Without a self-other boundary, social workers risk experiencing a client s feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, etc. as their own. If perceiving another person in an emotionally or physically painful circumstance elicits personal distress, the observer may tend not to fully attend to the other s experience, and as a result may fail to display sympathetic behavior. (Decety & Ickes, 2009)
Necessary Boundaries Lacking in self-other boundaries can cause social workers to project their own motivations onto others and misconstruing the other s experience. -Do you cry when you're upset/sad? Do you cry when your laughing/happy? Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend: Everyone knows the story of the good Samaritan- but has it been considered from a self-other boundary perspective? The Samaritan took pity on a man who had been robbed and beaten, bandaging his wounds, taking care of him, and paying the innkeeper to look after him while he was gone. But suppose the man had called the Samaritan selfish for not staying with him, and the Samaritan gave in to his requests for care and postponed his trip- missing out on important business opportunities. The Samaritan then resents the man for losing his business. To avoid these scenarios, knowing what falls within your personal boundary is key. We are not responsible for other people, rather we are responsible to others and for ourselves. Galatians 6:2,5, Carry each other s burdens, each one should carry their own load (Cloud & Townsend,1992)
Mental Flexibility -Cognitive ability that allows us to toggle between absorbing another s perspective and shutting it out -Turn on receptiveness to another s experience and turn off empathetic awareness after work day - Self regulation is typically conceptualized as a conscious, intentional effort to control one s thoughts, emotions or behaviors (Gerdes & Segal, 2011)
How Can I Improve My skill? Research has shown that the brain is changeable, a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity, and deliberately changing one s mental state starts with observing that mental state. Social workers are trained to be self-reflective, and this ability is central to enhancing empathy. Thinking about another s experience adds more empathy than just observing it Observe both the client and one s own thoughts and feelings (Gerdes & Segal, 2011)
Movie Clip Review Separating yourself from the experiences from those in the movie Discuss mindful observations of those in the movie
Self-Awareness Worksheet
The End Or the Beginning? Barker, R. (2011). The social work dictionary. (5 ed.). Washington D.C.: NASW Press. Cloud, H., & Townsend, J. (1992). Boundaries. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. De Wall, F. (2009). The age of empathy. New York: Three Rivers Press. Decety, J., & Ickes, W. (2009). The social neuroscience of empathy. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. Goleman, D. (1997, August 11). Ling married couples do look alike, study finds. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/11/science/long-married-couplesdo-look-alike-study-finds.html Gerdes, K. E., & Segal, E. (n.d.). Importance of empathy for social work practice: Integrating new science. (2011). Social Work, 56(2),