A Neuroscience Look at Empathy and How the Connection Heals
Bring Comfort to others
Photo created by the author with Microsoft designer ai
What is genuine empathy?
According to Naselle et al. (2020), empathy is understanding what others feel, with a boundary between one's feelings and those of others. People need compassion from others throughout their lives. Empathy allows us to stimulate the emotions and cognitions of the other while vicariously experiencing their feelings. It is imperative for self-esteem. The more people feel seen, heard, and understood, the more they feel valued. People tend to be happy when they are social.
Many people belong to friend groups. Studies have shown these groups can be most successful when members make efforts to understand the emotional states of others and the motivation to respond with care to friends in the group. Empathy creates safety and motivates group members to feel safe and vulnerable with group members. As a result, the friend groups become more cohesive. They trust one another and feel cared for.