8 - The power of empathy

Question 1

“When … someone really hears you without passing judgment on you, without trying to take responsibility for you, without trying to mold you, it feels damn good! … When I have been listened to and when I have been heard, I am able to reperceive my world in a new way and to go on. It is astonishing how elements that seem insoluble become soluble when someone listens, how confusions that seem irremediable turn into relatively clear flowing streams when one is heard.”

Question 2

Even knowing NVC, it’s often hard to communicate our feelings and needs. What’s a surefire way of making it easier for yourself?

Answer 2

By empathizing with your counterpart first we connect to their humanness

Question 3

The more we empathize with the other part, the __________ we feel.

Answer 3

Safer

Question 4

“When I concentrated on listening for his feelings and needs, I stopped seeing him as a _________.

Answer 4

Monster

Question 5

People who seem like monsters are simply human beings whose _____________ and _____________ sometimes keep us from seeing their humanness.

Answer 5

Language and behaviour

Question 6

It may be difficult to emphasize with those that are _____________ to us.

Answer 6

Closest

Question 7

When is a good time to interrupt a lifeless conversation?

Answer 7

The moment we don’t want to hear another word. People would rather be interrupted than to drone on to someone who doesn’t want to hear them speak.

Question 8

When people are droning on and on about their grievances, what are they often needing?

Answer 8

Empathy

Question 9

What is a fast way of brining a conversation back to life?

Answer 9

Empathy