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Empathy is more than just knowing that someone is feeling under the weather. It is taking the time to understand what is causing these emotions, how it shifts the way they see the world, and how these feelings impact their daily lives. Empathy requires effort and vulnerability, because you are opening yourself up to someone else's feelings, which can be difficult and uncomfortable. Demonstrating empathy shows that you are truly there to support the person needing care, and are willing to endure the challenges and obstacles with them.

-Isabelle Love

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Is an attempt to put yourself in another's shoes to show commonality in understanding of the issues they are going through in that moment.

- Greg

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I really like this quote from humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers on Empathy. I find that by being fully open, understanding and accepting of others, we can grow further as individuals and as humans.

It is difficult and also very uncomfortable to be an open individual for fear of emotional pain. But, by experiencing difficulties and hardships together, and seeing the world in their eyes, we can build each other up to get past or cope with difficult times and situations.
-Giovanni Jacolbia

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I liked this image because it makes me think that even from a young age people are trying to understand and share other people’s feelings. These two young boys probably don’t know the exact definition of empathy but yet are demonstrating the act of it.

To me empathy is not just telling someone that you understand what they are feeling but showing them that you feel their pain.
- Rayne Crosetta

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I chose this image because empathy to me is seeing, listening, and feeling through somebody else.
-Emerson M

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I feel that this image does justice to empathy because when you are being empathetic you are feeling and understanding to the best of your ability what the other person is going through. Alot of the time it will not be easy and it will be uncomfortable but you are with someone who is going through one of the hardest things they have had to go through and anyone being empathetic towards them can be extremely beneficial to their healing process.
- Mackenzie Corbett

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I chose this image because I think it does a good simple explanation of the difference between empathy and sympathy, which are often confused. Empathy is much more of an active skill, as you are actively feeling what the other person is feeling as opposed to simple understanding (sympathy). - Jacob Mclean

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This picture does a tremendous job capturing the scope of empathy, which I think people should be more cognisant of. Ideally, the ability to be empathetic will not be constrained by socioeconomics, race, religion or any perceived difference between people... or dogs.

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There’s no right or wrong way to show empathy. It is simply listening,hearing,withholding judgement,communicating and emotionally connecting with someone. The thought of saying “you are not alone.” I believe empathy becomes easier the more experience you gain and situations where you can say “I’ve been through that, I understand” if you haven’t been through the same things as another person it’s hard to  “put yourself in their shoes” and truly understand what they are feeling or going through, so instead we can say to ourselves “what if that were me” how would you feel if you were that person. That sometimes can help bring you to a place of understanding and empathy for another person.
-Kayla Dunn

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As everyone has already stated, empathy is putting yourself in another persons shoes which gives us perspective. I choose this image as I find it very relevant to what being a paramedic is. Our soft skills are as important as our clinical (hard) skills. I have been on calls where I only used soft skills and feel they can be overlooked at times.
-Chris Meier

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Great to know that empathy is not only human in nature. Recent studies show your dog actually cares if you are unhappy. Although empathy is complex in nature and technically your dog can't put themselves in your shoes per say, they are able to read your emotions and compensate. True empathy requires you step outside of your own emotions and view things entirely from the perspective of another person.

-Wes Cartwright

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Empathy is a very powerful and useful tool. As a healthcare provider, being able to feel what your patient is feeling allows you to provide them with a higher level of care. This is because you will give them the care and support that you would want to receive if you were in their position. I believe that those who are able to be empathetic are less likely to become jaded over time and will provide a higher level of care throughout their careers.  Being empathetic will also lead you to be a better patient advocate and help them receive the care they need. I chose this image as I believe that it mirrors my sentiments on how effective of a tool that empathy is to a healthcare provider.
-Chris Ricketts

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Amazing contributions so far. Thank you for taking the time to dive into this question and adding your perspectives here. Look forward to reading them all!!

- Dugg

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Empathy is understanding someone else's troubles, truly opening yourself up to listening to that individual. I think it's so important to put away any judgement towards any human being, and be present in each and every moment. Imagine what it would be like if you were in their position; how you would feel, what you would need. Let that person know they are not alone. It's a powerful way to communicate with other people and connect with others. Being empathietic is something that should be done more often than not, we should be focusing on others in that moment, rather than be distracted by all the buzz that surrounds us.
~ Jessica Knoop

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Empathy is a unique way of connecting with one another. It requires one to put themselves in another persons place. This picture highlights how shared experiences with others create a space for empathy and common ground between both parties is essential for empathy.

- Danny Cleveland

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I think one of the greatest questions we can ask someone in order to be empathetic is “what if that was me?” Being able to put yourself in their shoes and truly understand what they’re going through is what separates empathy and sympathy. We can become more empathetic people when we invision another person’s suffering in our own lives.
Joey Renaud

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This quote from R.J Palacio, author of the wonderful novel Wonder, describes empathy as something that cannot be learned. Through our own kindness and emotional acknowledgement towards the burdens of others, we can truly inspire those around us to show the same kindness and courage while connecting emotionally to others and stepping into their shoes.
-Martha Helmers

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The reason  why I chose this picture to illustrate empathy is because it demonstrates ones ability to put themselves in someone else's shoes. Being able to think and relate to someone on an emotional level, helps build connections and trust especially during patient care and contact. -Jesse Shelton

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The reason  why I chose this picture to illustrate empathy is because it demonstrates ones ability to put themselves in someone else's shoes. Being able to think and relate to someone on an emotional level, helps build connections and trust especially during patient care and contact. -Jesse Shelton

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http://www.psychalive.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Empathy-300

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I think Empathy is being able to put yourself in another person's shoes and understand what they are going through.
-Samantha Kirschner

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I think that to have a sense of empathy you need to know yourself as well as how you would react to situations other are in. I chose this quote as it illustrates how empathy can feel in a way I haven’t seen before.

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I feel that this photo really displays the meaning of empathy. This image shows two heads combining two "you" and "me" into "we," I think that is accurate because empathy requires one to not only notice the pain but to feel it and understand where that pain is coming from. You both have to open up so instead of saying "you" or "me" you can now say "we."

-Colton Schwindt

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Consider how different our society would be, if we responded to all human suffering with the emotional equivalent of a shoulder shrug. I have chosen this image because it represents how empathy provides us with the ability to feel another person's pain, which is integral to society. Emotions are important because they motivate us and knowing that something is important is helpful, but it can not compare to FEELING that same knowledge.
- Jordan Miller

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I chose this photo as I thought it was a great example of empathy. My cousin who teaches phys-ed at an elementary school and also coaches the basketball team decided to make a student with autism’s dream come true by putting him on the team, after years of the student trying out for school teams without success. The student ended up being very valuable to the team through my cousin’s patience and compassion.
- Lauran Livingston

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I think a lot of people think you had to experience the same thing to show empathy but theres more to it then that

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I chose this pictures because it provides a visual representation of sharing and understanding the emotions another person is experiencing.  Although sometimes it may quite easy to identify that someone is going through a hard time, empathy allows you to understand their perspective.
-Colten Hayes

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I chose the book "Love You Forever" because I think it shows empathy throughout the book. At the beginning of the book the mother spends time looking after her son and singing him a lullaby every night when he is asleep. Eventually the son grows up and moves out, and near the end of the book the mother gets sick. The son looks after her and sings her the same lullaby she used to sing to him. This book shows empathy because it shows the son stepping into his mothers shoes when he cares for her, like she had cared for him when he was a baby.
-Mikaila Boon

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Often times it is easy to see that someone is hurting, but having the ability to look deeper than someones physical cover and feel what they are feeling separates a empathetic from a sympathetic person. I chose this picture because I think it is important to understand that we can never truly know the full extent of what another individual is going through.
-Brittany D'Angelo

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I chose this photo because I found that the quote not only explains what empathy is, but it also mentions how empathy can change the world around us.
-Matt Pusateri

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Empathy is the ability to share an alike emotion with someone who is in suffering. It is the capability of demonstrating compassion through verbal and physical communication. It takes that one moment or one gesture, to make a person feel not alone in a situation and that their feelings are understood.
I believe this photo demonstrates a strong level of empathy, as it was done for a woman’s last request on her death bed.
-Sammy Melo

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I chose this picture because I think it is a good representation of one of  the major differences between empathy and sympathy. That being the need to actually feel what another person is feeling to express empathy as apposed to just understanding how they are feeling (sympathy).
-Eric Sherlock

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I chose this image/quote because it puts empathy and sympathy into something that we all have felt. Everyone
can relate to this discomfort.
- Jack Hayward

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I chose this picture because it is important to distinguish between empathy and sympathy. This picture outlines how to display empathy to someone else
-Jake

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I chose this image about empathy for several reasons. 1. Empathy is a process which involves many steps such as understanding, awareness and connection. 2. This model highlights that empathy may be needed in response to subtle non verbal clues as well as the more obvious situations. 3. Empathy is a continuous process as represented by this wheel. Meaning in the context of paramedicine that empathy is important throughout the entire duration of your call, including when sitting on delay at the hospital.
-Kate Robinson

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To imagine sympathy vs. empathy, I really like the image of someone stuck in a hole. The empathizer climbs into the hole with them, shares their struggle, and helps boost them out. The sympathizer stands at the edge and constantly reminds them they are in a hole, talks about how difficult that must be for them and tells them how they should try and get out..

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Quick and easy bullets on how to become more empathic. Useful if you want to connect with someone but are unsure how. Notice the repetition of the word "feeling," this is what empathy is all about.
-Scott Bernaerts

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I chose to use this picture because I think it is very common mistake to get empathy and sympathy mixed-up or confused and this is a good, brief explanation of both terms put in a way that makes it easy to differentiate the two.
-Alberto Pagano

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A picture that reflects my thoughts on Empathy. 

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A picture that reflects my thoughts on Empathy. 

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I chose this picture because I feel there is a lot of different aspects to empathy to keep in mind when portraying empathy to someone in a difficult situation. There is a lot more then words that go into empathy and it is important to encompass all of these non-verbal and verbal cues.
-Emily Chard