Empathy is all about listening and understanding how others feel. 😌

Sometimes in life people go through a series of challenges. When hardships occur, we all need friends or close relatives to be with, understand how they feel, give and get support. Generally this is called showing empathy. But empathy shouldn’t only be expressed by friends and families, the friends we make online on platforms like Placetochat can also show us empathy when we talk to them about our problems.

To some people, empathy comes partly natural, while others have to learn how to develop their empathy from an article such as this one. Keep reading to learn how you can develop empathy.

Here are 7 techniques you can use to develop your empathy:

• Give yourself a challenge

To learn how to show empathy, you need to get out of your comfort zone. You need to learn a new skill, for instance, learn a foreign language, how to play a new musical instrument or hobby. You can also get a new profession. The key point is when you learn something new you’ll learn to be humble and imperfect. The important starter of showing empathy is practicing humility.  Once you learn, you can express it during communication whether in real life or through social media platforms like Placetochat.

• Change your environment

Staying in the same place for a very long time can be boring, you need to be adventurous, travel to new places, learn new cultures. Doing this will enable you to see people from a different perspective and learn to appreciate them just the way they are without judging. Showing empathy requires you to learn how the other person feels and appreciate them the way they are.

• Get feedback

In most learning environments, there are bound to be tests or exams that can help you gauge how much you have learnt. In the same way, when learning about how to show empathy, you can ask your family or new friends you make on Placetochat or Facebook to help you check your learning progress.

This way you’ll keep improving and learning from your mistakes, so by the time you are in a position to show empathy, you can do it successfully.

• Observe the heart 

It is okay to be thoughtful and analytic, but when it comes to empathy, your emotions should come out clearly, the other party has to feel them and know that you’re empathetic to their situation. That is why you need to explore your heart so that emotions that evoke empathy can show. People will always know if you show them empathy or not. Expressions play a huge role when you want to show empathy online, you can use emojis or words that show you are empathetic to the situation, moreso if the communication is through chat.

• Understand other people

When showing empathy, you need to understand how it feels like being in the shoes of the other person. You also need to let them know that you understand them and their situation. Make it feel like you are both walking in the same shoes.

When you understand people and their situations, you will not be able to judge them. No matter what their situation is, you will appreciate them and listen carefully. This is something that most people who need empathy would like.

• Don’t be bias

We all have something to hide, sometimes or biases that may affect our ability to sympathize or listen to other people. The biases may be centered around gender, age or race. You may think that you have no biases but in the real sense, we all do. The important thing you want to work on is to check them out and ensure they don’t negatively impact your ability to express empathy.

• Show curiosity

Be curious and try to understand how others feel. 🫂

Asking questions can be a good way of showing empathy. When you are curious about another person’s feelings and needs, you will develop a stronger understanding of what they are going through and emotionally be there for them. It is also advisable to ask open questions and avoid the ones that provoke or undermine people you are trying to sympathize with.

😌 Can social media help you develop empathetic skills?

The Internet is filled with different kinds of people, and some of them have problems that they need to share to feel better or get solutions to. So it is definitely one of the places you can go to practice empathy. Placetochat is a place where people meet new acquaintances, chat and get entertainment. People on Placetochat are from different races and places, so you can meet interesting individuals to connect with and chat. You can use some of the ideas above if not all during your communication and show empathy to them.

Conclusion

Empathy is a feeling, so this means it has to come from the heart, and to do that you need practice. Don’t focus so much on your thoughts. Showing empathy will help you communicate and connect with people easily. Remember to check your biases as they affect your way of expressing empathy.

Empathy cannot only be expressed in real life but also through social media and communication sites like Placetochat, you just need to know the right words to use in expressing empathy, you can also use emojis, stickers or other available tools to express empathy especially if you are text messaging.

Showing empathy is also good for therapy, most people who are going through grief or sadness can feel better when they are listened to and empathy is shown to them. Empathy may not solve the issue at hand but it is still a great way of being there and showing concern.