Can you read the emotions of others, or are you simply projecting your own emotions? The answer to this question isn’t simple, but there are ways tell the difference, and ways to develop your empathic abilities and accuracy so that you’re not simply projecting your own emotional state at others. Ten possibilities to explore Sometimes, people will tell you that an emotion you sensed isn’t there, … Read More
Hello! After studying empathy and emotions for four decades, I’ve developed a very simple and accurate way to tell if you’re an empath. Are you ready to find out? Karla McLaren’s Amazingly Accurate Quiz for Empaths Question 1: Are you breathing? Yes/No (choose one) Yes? You’re an empath. No? Take a breath and start over at Question 1. (spoiler alert) Congratulations! You’re an empath! That’s a … Read More
Healthy Empathy® ~ How to Give Without Giving it All Away Karla McLaren, M.Ed and Tino Plank, MSN, RN August 17th to 19th, Friday evening through Sunday afternoon At Esalen Center in Big Sur, California $420 includes your retreat, all of your meals, use of the facilities, and simple accommodations. 9.75 hours of Continuing Education credits are available (see below) Health and healing professionals who demonstrate empathy … Read More
Ten Ways to Identify the Difference I’m teaching the 3rd cohort of the Dynamic Emotional Integration® series this year, and one of the students had an excellent question about whether we can, in fact, be accurate about other people’s emotions. Are we able to accurately read the emotions of others, or are we simply projecting based on our own understanding? Some people make empathic accuracy difficult, … Read More
Healthy Empathy® How to Give Without Giving it All Away Karla McLaren, M.Ed and Tino Plank, MSN, RN November 24th to 26th, 2017, Friday evening through Sunday afternoon 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley, California $325 plus accommodations (see the 1440 Multiversity site for your options) 8.5 hours of Continuing Education credits are available (see below) Health and healing professionals who demonstrate empathy provide better care with higher … Read More
The Art of Empathy Retreat at Esalen! Balancing Connection, Self-Care, and Healthy Intimacy October 1st to 6th, 2017 Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California Yes, you can get to Esalen! Empathy — for yourself and others — is a crucial skill at all times, and especially in times of trouble. Empathy is possibly your most essential skill, yet many of us struggle with it simply because we weren’t taught how … Read More
Healthy Empathy™ How to Give Without Giving it All Away Karla McLaren, M.Ed and Tino Plank, MSN, RN Friday & Saturday, September 23 & 24, 2016 Friday 7:30-9pm and Saturday 10:30am to 5:30pm $100 East West Bookshop in Seattle Continuing Education credits are available (see below) Register Now Empathy is possibly your most essential skill, yet many of us struggle with it simply because we were … Read More
I’ve had the opportunity to bring my work into the corporate world recently, and I’m having such a wonderful time! In Emotional Dynamics at Work®, we’re working on emotions, empathy, and the crucial concept of emotion work, and I want to share it with you. Understanding emotion work In her groundbreaking book, The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling, sociologist Arlie Hochschild (pronounced hoke-shilled) described what … Read More
When people think of empathy, they tend to see it as a soft skill — as a yielding and pleasing kind of behavior. They think: If you listen to me and agree with me and make me feel good, that’s empathy. If you fix my problems and soothe everything, that’s empathy. Empathy equals niceness. But there’s actually a deeper form of empathy that transcends mere niceness … Read More
Balancing empathy for others with empathy for yourself When I talk about empathy, I tend to use the words healthy and intentional a great deal of the time. If your empathy is unintentional, and you’re not sure how it works, it can be very easy to enmesh yourself with other people’s emotions and needs — to the extent that you ignore your own. You can lose … Read More