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App for anxiety

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Stress, anxiety, and depression can get in the way of you living your life. Pacifica gives you psychologist-designed tools to address them based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, mindfulness meditation, relaxation, and mood/health tracking.

Free · Offers In-App Purchases

Young adult feedback

Pacifica combines the best of mindfulness with emotional boosters and mood tracking. The initial screen is a visually appealing sunset at the beach with the waves slowly rolling in. The options to collect health, thoughts, moods and goals and allow tracking of these are excellent. The app then has a plethora of mindfulness exercises to boost the user's emotions. Furthermore, the community forums are created in a friendly way and all users seem to be supportive of each other.

Expert feedback

Pacifica is an app designed for daily use to help users reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety. The app can also be used with a therapist to help track behaviours and feelings while individuals are not in therapy sessions. The app provides users with a mood tracker, relaxation techniques, a community for peer support, customisable goals and progress reports.

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Stress, anxiety, and depression can get in the way of you living your life. Pacifica gives you psychologist-designed tools to address them based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, mindfulness meditation, relaxation, and mood/health tracking. Free · Offers In-App Purchases Pacifica combines the best of mindfulness with emotional boosters and mood tracking.

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Printable for Activity

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5 Keys to Social and Emotional Learning Success

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mindfulness/meditation app

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Calm is the #1 app for sleep and meditation. Join the millions experiencing better sleep, lower stress, and less anxiety.

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Finding and Defining Your Seat at the Leadership Table

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Finding and Defining Your Seat at the Leadership Table

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LSSSCA_ Finding & Defining Your Seat @ The Leadership Table

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You want me to do what? Making it all work 2018

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You want me to do what? Making it all work 2018

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Check-In / Check-Out: Providing a Daily Support System for Students

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GREAT free resource for mindfulness. I don't know why there is a picture of people eating :).

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An evidence-based approach to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children in the classroom, school and home environments. Choose the implementation option to suit your school.

For a limited time, Australian primary schools can apply for a funded place and receive the Primary School Program at no direct cost to the school.

Smiling Mind is Australia's leading digital-led, prevention focussed mental health not-for-profit. Smiling Mind has been helping minds thrive for over 10 years and are the innovators behind Australia's most trusted mental wellbeing app. Our evidence-based tools support people to learn the skills to maintain their mental health in fun and interactive ways.

If you'd like to support our work, you can make a donation. Every contribution, however large or small makes a difference and we're so grateful for your support.

The Australian Mental Wellbeing Index provides a snapshot insight into the everyday mental wellbeing of Australia. It explores the factors that contribute to mental wellbeing and aims to generate a national conversation about how Australians can take a proactive approach to support mental wellbeing.

We've recently released the second annual report exploring the data collected across 2022-2023. The latest report shows young Australians aged 18-24, are experiencing poorer mental wellbeing than older age groups and poorer levels of focus and concentration may be a key driver of this.

A daily mindfulness and meditation guide at your fingertips

#1 Apple Health & Wellbeing App 2018 - Australia

Trusted by over 7.8M people

100% evidence based

FREE Programs for children and adults

We suggest 10 minutes a day

What are you waiting for?

DOWNLOAD THE APP NOW AND SEE FOR YOURSELF!

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Smiling Mind is a non-for-profit web and app-based meditation program developed by psychologists and educators to help bring mindfulness into your life.

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LSSSCA_ Making MTSS & The Comp. Program BFF's

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De-Escalation Spaces: Helping Students Manage Emotions

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Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships, and make better decisions. Without a doubt, these are critical skills for all learners.

In my years as a teacher, I know there is just not enough time for everything. So often, social and emotional learning gets put on the back burner to other important skills like reading, writing, math, history, and science. While these skills are certainly important, I would argue that it's even more important that kids develop their emotional intelligence through social emotional learning activities. Simply put, if kids are mentally and emotionally healthy, they are better equipped to face the challenges life brings. We just have to make the time to teach, discuss, and practice these skills! Best of all, there are many ways to integrate social-emotional learning into what you are already teaching.

Below I share 25 strategies for integrating SEL instruction and activities into the day. Of course, if you're looking for a solution that targets these skills more explicitly, I created a yearlong curriculum for elementary social emotional learning and middle school social emotional learning to help all kids learn these skills.

Just a note that these strategies were originally written for use in the classroom. While many of the techniques can be used during distance learning, I also recently wrote an article all about integrating social emotional learning during distance learning.
Here are 25 ways to integrate social emotional learning into your classroom:
1. Use Journal Writing. You can use daily journal prompts to help kids think about social-emotional skills in all areas. For example, you might ask kids, "When was a time you used self-control? What was outcome?" to focus on self-management skills. After writing, it's helpful to have students share their responses with a partner and with the class as a whole. Kids will be practicing writing, partner work, group discussion, and SEL skills all at the same time. I love this yearlong Social Emotional Learning Journal for just a few minutes of writing and discussion every day.

2. Use Read Alouds. This is one of my favorite strategies for integrating SEL into everyday learning because it is something educators do so often already. While reading, spend time talking about how some of the characters might think and feel. Use this time to highlight that this is perspective-taking, a skill we use to understand others' emotions and thoughts. Best of all, it can be done with any text you are already reading. Grab this free read aloud list for social emotional learning to get you started with some ideas.

3. Do Daily Greetings. Kids and young adults need connection! One positive and simple strategy is to start your morning with daily greetings. You can do this as kids walk through the door or during the first few minutes of class. If you are teaching online, greetings can even be virtual. Use this printable greetings poster to get started.

3. Hold Class Meetings. You can choose to hold a class meeting once a day as a "morning meeting" or just once a week. The purpose of a class meeting can be to boost each other up, to help solve problems, and plan class events together. Having this space for community can help promote a positive climate for all kids. Use this morning meeting set to get started.

4. Incorporate Art Activities. Art can be a powerful way to target social and emotional skills. Creating a self-collage can help kids develop better self-awareness about who they are. Painting and drawing can serve as positive coping strategies to manage stress. Having partners work together on a shared drawing can increase collaboration and relationship skills. There are lots of opportunities for learning with art!

6. Talk About Managing Emotions. No matter what age, all kids and young adults need practice managing their emotions. This is another skill that can be weaved into literature as you talk about character's feelings and needs. You might say, "How did Theresa feel when her mom left? How did she manage her emotions? Do you think it was a healthy way to manage them?" Additionally, be open with kids about how to manage their own emotions and give strategies for what kids can do in your classroom. For example, "If you are feeling nervous about the test today, remember to use positive self-talk. Tell yourself that you've got this!"

7. Give Responsibilities. Giving kids responsibilities and jobs helps build their sense of self-worth and gives the message that we are all part of a larger community. It's important that every student has some type of responsibility, whether it is a class librarian, lunch counter, or part of a "clean up crew".

8. Practice Problem-Solving Skills. If students have an issue or challenge to overcome, avoid solving it for them right away. Encourage kids to think about how they could solve their problem and have a 10 minute policy - students can get your help but they need to think about the problem for at least 10 minutes first. Often, kids will figure out a solution on their own or with a friend during that time. You can use these free social problem solving task cards or grab the full set to get started! Again, this is another skill that can be strengthened through literature by discussing characters, problems, and making predictions about solutions.

9. Build Community with Teamwork. For class projects and assignments, have students work in larger teams to complete a task. Teach students to assign different jobs when working in a team, so that all students have important responsibilities.

10. Encourage Positive Self-Talk. Self-talk is voice in our minds that reassures and encourages us. It also helps us control our emotions so we can deal with problems appropriately. Today, kids hear a lot of negative, so teaching positive self-talk explicitly is really important. Model this and encourage this every day. Use this free positive thoughts and affirmations list to get started.

11. Celebrate Diversity. Spend time discussing and learning about people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and ability levels. Kids need to hear, see, discuss, and understand that we are part of a larger community within our countries and world. Early discussions about diversity can help promote tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion for everyone.

12. Incorporate Hands-on Crafts. If your students need a craft break or activity before a holiday, use that time to promote social and emotional skills. The craft below is a Positive Self-Talk Flower Craft. Kids can add their own positive self-talk statements, color the craft, cut it out, and then keep it to help remind them how to use this helpful strategy. This is just one small example that can help to maximize your learning time by incorporating SEL into activities like crafts.

13. Encourage Reflection. After students complete a task, assessment, project, or assignment, encourage them to reflect about their own progress. This is a critical SEL skill that can be used across all curriculum, such as math, reading, writing, science, history, and more.

14. Practice Mindfulness. Using mindfulness in the classroom can help teach kids how to calm down before a big test, manage their emotions when they are upset, and just feel happier in the moment. Sometimes, kids don't really know how to calm down on their own. Teaching mindfulness can help kids learn breathing strategies, how to focus on just one thing at a time, and relaxing our bodies. You can use these Mindfulness Activities to teach kids these strategies right away.

15. Create a Calm Down Area. Not all kids will use this area, but there are some students who truly need it. Set up a small area in your classroom with a bean bag, a few books, a calm down jar, a few fidgets, and anything else you have that is calming. Students who need this space can sit, use coping strategies, and return back to class when they are calm again.

16. Promote a Growth Mindset. Embracing a growth mindset helps kids and young adults learn that we can accomplish our goals with hard work, good strategies, and persistence over time. Sometimes kids feel they are just as smart as they'll ever be (i.e. "I'm just never good at math, so there's no use in trying). This mindset can be detrimental to student growth, so it is worth investing time into teaching kids to embrace a growth mindset and instead say, "Math is tough but I'm going to study, work hard, and ask for help so I can accomplish what I want to." Use these free Growth Mindset Task Cards to get yourself started!

17. Encourage Kindness. One of my favorite ways to promote kindness is encouraging random acts of kindness. Set up a bin where students can write and add a note when they notice someone else doing something kind or helpful. Once a month, draw from the bin to award a small reward. You can also post the random acts up on a bulletin board so that everyone can see.

18. Play Games. It's helpful to have an assortment of games that focus on social-emotional skills, such as communication, empathy, and problem-solving. Read up more on how you can integrate social emotional learning through games. You can also read my blog post about games you can use to strengthen executive functioning skills, such as self-control, planning, attention, and more.

19. Provide a Daily Check-in. You can do this either through a morning meeting, or just a quick check-in for specific students in need. Have students identify how they are feeling and consider what they might need to improve their emotions in the moment.

20. Discuss Empathy. To me, empathy is one of the most critical skills for kids to develop. It is the foundation for considering about how others think and feel so that we can respond in socially appropriate and compassionate ways. You can practice empathy on its own or through literature by discussing characters and how they might feel in a variety of situations. I also love these social skills task cards to practice the skills when time allows.

21. Create SMART Goals. SMART goals are another way to help kids have control over what they want to accomplish in life. You can have students write SMART goals for an academic area that they need to improve or a social area that needs work. Make sure to check-in on these goals periodically so that students can identify if their strategies are working or not, and make decisions about how to change their approaches to make their goals a success.

22. Teach Coping Skills to Manage Stress. All kids and young adults experience stress even when we don't see it. It is so important to teach them actual strategies they can use when they are feeling overwhelmed. It's critical that kids practice these strategies when they are actually calm and don't need them. That's so they can effectively use those skills in the moment when they are struggling with emotions. I love this Coping Strategies Wheel to teach and practice some of these skills in a hands-on way.

23. Highlight Skills Throughout the Day. Just teaching or addressing some of these social-emotional skills isn't enough. When you see them in action in the classroom, highlight and encourage the skill! For example, you might say privately to a student, "I noticed you were frustrated when you couldn't work with the group you wanted and you did a great job using your self-control and flexibility to go with the flow and choose another group. Thank you." You can highlight the skills to the whole class, too. You might say, "Before this test, I want everyone to just stop and use some positive self-talk. Give yourself a compliment."

24. Teach Active Listening Skills. All kids need to learn strong active listening skills for success at school, with friends, and at their future jobs. Kids will use them in your classroom when you are teaching, when they are working with a partner on an assignment, and when they are just chatting with a friend.

25. Teach Group Ground Rules. Group work is an important part of learning in the classroom, but it is not a strength for all learners. Have your kids develop "Group Ground Rules" for what is important when working in a group. Some examples might be: Do your fair share of the work, stay with the group, and give everyone a chance to speak up. Continually remind students of these rules when working in groups or partners.

26. Practice Respectfully Disagreeing. People are going to disagree sometimes, so learning how to disagree respectfully is a critical skill (especially in our digital world). Have students discuss and debate topics, making sure that they actively listen to the other person and respect that opinion even when they don't agree. You can use these Free Communication Skills Lessons to practice!

Remember that a social-emotional learning isn't just one thing. It's an approach that brings all of these aspects into your classroom and supporting your learners every day. I also have developed a yearlong curriculum for elementary social emotional learning and middle school social emotional learning to help all kids learn these skills. Kids deserve to have them!

These are just some ways you can incorporate social-emotional learning into your already-busy classroom. If you have more ideas about SEL, please share!

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25 Ways to Integrate Social Emotional Learning

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Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships

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We learn empathy at a young age. Through everyday observations and interactions, we continuously grow to recognize and understand the thoughts and feelings of others. It's inherent in all of us to some degree.

But as we get older, the pressures of life combined with hundreds of daily distractions force us to subconsciously separate some of our feelings of empathy from many of our interactions.

And that's understandable-being empathetic to every person you meet in a day would be mentally and emotionally exhausting.

But it's still an important trait that we should be using more often- especially in our professional lives . It makes us more mindful and provides perspective. And that can have a profound impact on the way we work and the results we get.

So, we've identified a few ways you can both teach and learn empathy in the workplace. In this post we'll look at a few empathy building exercises that can be applied both online and offline :

But first, let's look at a more concrete idea of what empathy is.

How customer-obsessed is your business? Take the quiz to find out. 👇

What is empathy?

Empathy is a common term that's sometimes both misused and misunderstood. For example, empathy is at times confused with sympathy. They're similar concepts that both have to do with connecting with another person through emotion, but with a few important distinctions. To be "sympathetic" is to feel pity towards someone-you may not have experienced what they're going through or fully understand it, but you feel bad for them. But to be "empathetic" towards them is to share their perspective and understand it. (Most likely because you've experienced it yourself.)

As you can imagine, in most cases, empathy is the more powerful of the two. (How many times in movies and films have you heard someone say "I don't want your sympathy/pity!"

The academic definition

This research paper by Jean Decety and Jason Cowell offers a more in-depth definition of empathy that's useful for understanding its different aspects:

Empathy consists of three parts:

1. Emotional sharing: experiencing the same feelings as others simply by observing them

2. Empathic concern: the desire or motivation to care for individuals in need

3. Perspective-taking: the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes

To paraphrase, empathy is the ability to recognize someone's emotions and put yourself into their shoes to-and this is the part that most people forget about when they think of empathy-create a positive outcome in a given situation.

Empathy in business: why it's important

Of course, we all know that being able to put yourself into someone else's shoes is a pretty important skill to have in life. But, what does that mean in the context of work, or running a team?

As it turns out, empathy is extremely beneficial in business. In fact, empathy was considered a key trait of the most innovative teams at Google . Let's break down the ways in which high empathy drives better results at work:

It improves collaboration

Teamwork makes the dream work. And empathy is a key ingredient in making that happen. It empowers teams to see the forest the trees, and to recognize how everyone's individual challenges and goals come together to achieve the overall larger goal. (If working in silos is a problem for your team, empathy can help!).

It can enhance creativity and problem-solving

"Thinking outside of the box" is a term often used for being creative. Practicing empathy allows people to step away from their own perspective and look at problems from a different angle. Using empathy to see the world through the eyes of your customers, clients, and coworkers can help you come up with solutions you may not have been able to from your own point of view.

It helps you provide better customer service

Nowhere is empathy a more effective tool than in customer service . When you practice empathy, instead of just seeing someone as a difficult customer , you might be able to better recognize and acknowledge their challenges and see the problem from their angle. This will go a long way in helping you show them that you really want to help them-and can make difficult conversations much easier, even if the problem at hand isn't necessarily solved in that moment.

It strengthens loyalty

Similar to customer service, empathy creates loyalty-and we're not just talking about repeat customers . If your customers, clients, and coworkers see that you care about their problems, challenges, and goals, they're more likely to reciprocate-which can make it easier for you to do your job (and reach your own professional goals).

It can help you sell more

Good salespeople employ empathy in every professional interaction. It helps them identify and acknowledge prospects' challenges and goals, see things from their point of view, and provide a way to overcome their unique challenges.

It boosts morale

High employee morale has a positive impact on every facet of the way a company works. And high morale starts with empathy at the management-employee level. Being able to empathize with the challenges that your workers are up against allows you to provide the support they need to be successful.

How can you practice empathy in an increasingly online world?

Developing empathy for your teammates is simple enough when you're all working in the same office and see each other physically every day. But what about distributed teams and remote teammates?

If everyone is working from home and only seeing each other in the odd video conference call (and even when people use face-to-face video conferencing tools, sometimes they don't turn their video on), what challenges does that create?

Because so much of conveying empathy relies on communication, that is the biggest thing you can do in order to maintain a high level of empathy toward your team when everything is physically apart from each other. If you can't communicate with someone, you can't show them you're feeling empathetic-and you can't receive empathy either.

So, here are three quick tips for practicing empathy when you're communicating in an online world:

1. Turn on the video (if you can)

In most cases, being able to see the other person's facial expressions and body language helps support active listening and build empathy.

You've probably experienced this. It's something that's plagued almost all of us. You're talking to someone over text, make a little joke, but the other person misinterpreted it. It's harder to read someone's tone accurately when you don't have that other visual and audio information-even a phone call, which is slightly better since it gives you the sound component, doesn't give you the full picture.

Nuances like sarcasm and little jokes often get lost in conversations when you can't see the other person's visual cues, and that's why having the video on in a meeting can help smooth the path for communication and ultimately, building empathy. If you're on a phone call and a tough topic comes up, turning that phone call into a video call might help you get through that conversation more easily.

For example, the RingCentral app lets you transition between different types of calls easily:

But let's face it. Video meeting fatigue is real. Whether it's a perceived expectation that we have to act chipper all the time on a or the face-to-face interaction without the rewards of being in the physical presence of coworkers we may be friends with, the praise for video conferencing is starting to take a toll on, well, most people.

So, for this tip, if you can muster it, do it. But if not, we get itt.

2. Have other forms of communication handy

From using emojis to being more conscious of how your tone comes across over text, there are so many ways to be more mindful of how we convey empathy at work.

Not every interaction you have with a colleague or client is going to be in-person or over a video call. Often, you'll be messaging each other (or even texting). And for most people, they may not have a strong preference for a certain channel of communication .

But some of your teammates may prefer to talk about things on a call rather than type it out. Someone may be working from home because their house needs repairs-and things are a little messy, so they'd rather not be on video this week. Maybe you find that you're much more productive over text because your days are usually booked up with meetings and you want to minimize unnecessary calls when you can.

Being cognizant of these needs is another, less explicit, way to practice empathy. Think of it as a way of meeting your teammates and clients halfway and being thoughtful of how to help someone be their best self when working with you.

And sure, you may think that this is too "fluffy" of a consideration when it comes to your teammates since it's just a job and they have to communicate in whatever way the company mandates, but what about your clients and prospects? (We'd also argue that even from an internal standpoint, this would make your group projects and tasks go much more smoothly-which is valuable in itself.)

So, how can you do this? Well, one simple way is to have the right tool(s). Make things as easy as possible for your team-instead of having one app for talking over messaging and another for video conferencing (and another, and another...), see if you can find platforms that have multiple communication options in one place:

4 empathy exercises for teams

We know why empathy is so important in the workplace-but understanding the benefits of empathy and practicing them are two different things. These exercises can help you teach empathy in a way that makes it easy to apply in everyday professional scenarios.

We'll include a summary of the empathy exercise, what it's best used for, how to do the exercise, how long it takes, and how many people are needed.

1. Active listening

We're all guilty of it. Someone begins talking to us and we unintentionally zone out. It's not that what the person is telling us is unimportant or that we don't care. Sometimes we just need to apply focus. And that's what active listening is: forcing yourself to listen to what the person is saying and being proactive in the conversation by actively participating in what they're telling you.

Ideal for: Customer service, sales, day-to-day interactions

Time needed: 10-15 minutes

How to do the exercise: Have everyone in your group choose a topic they can speak about at a conversational level.

A few examples:

What you did over the weekend

The last amazing restaurant you ate at

A podcast you recently listened to

A funny thing your kid did

Once topics are chosen, break the group into pairs and have them go off together. The first person takes their turn speaking about their topic.

The second person's role is to listen intently to the story, stopping every so often to restate what the first person said, but in their own words.

Using the podcast example, imagine the first person explaining how a podcast host and guest had a disagreement on the show:
"So they got up and left? Just like that?"
When appropriate, the second person should prompt the first for more information.
"Wow. What did the host say?"
When the first person has finished telling the story, switch roles. When they're done, each person should be able to repeat the other's story.

Why it works: This exercise makes the second person an active participant in the story. It lets the first person know that they're listening and interested in what they have to say. The result not only makes for a more in-depth conversation that's understood by both participants but also continuously builds trust between them.

2. Two sides to every story

Demanding coworkers, irritable customers, and unreasonable clients. We've all dealt with them. While not something we typically remember fondly, those experiences do offer an opportunity for learning.

The idea of this exercise is to try to defend some of the more unreasonable or absurd demands we've experienced. To do this, we have to truly put ourselves in the shoes of the person making the demand. The goal isn't necessarily to agree with what they're asking but to begin understanding it.

Ideal for: Customer service, sales, marketing, HR

Time required: 15-30 minutes

How to do the exercise: Have everyone recall a time in which they felt someone was being unreasonable. Break the group into pairs.

Start with one participant telling the story about the situation from their point of view. The other person is to listen closely (this is a great opportunity to use active listening skills if you've already completed that activity) and make mental note of the key details.

The second person should try to imagine what the "irrational" person's position was. As they're hearing the story, try to imagine:

Why the person was making this request

How they felt

What the impact of the situation was on them

Reasons why it may not be so unreasonable

When the story ends, the listener should attempt to play devil's advocate and explain why they understand the "unreasonable" party's position.

Why it works: Everyone has a point of view, and often, they differ. Instead of siding with the person telling the story, this exercise forces the listener to closely examine the circumstances around the scenario and imagine why the other party felt a certain way. This can highlight points of view that weren't considered and create a greater sense of understanding.

3. Best and worst

Team meetings usually involve you and your team updating each other on certain projects and sharing a couple of wins. These important meetings keep people motivated and projects moving along. But they're also a great opportunity to get real with each other, share, and empathize with your team.

This activity encourages you to share both the good the bad. In addition to highlighting challenges that an individual may need help with, it's a great temperature check and does wonders for getting everyone on the same page.

Ideal for: Any team that meets on a regular basis

Time: 5-30 minutes, depending on team size

At your next How it works: team meeting, add the "best and worst" exercise to the agenda. After each person shares their necessary updates, get them to share the best and worst part of their workweek.

For example:
"The best part of my week was completing the project ahead of time and under budget. The worst part was trying to get our headcount spend approved."
Why it works: Sharing is caring. When teams can share both the good and the bad, they're making others aware of the challenges they're up against. This may also highlight other challenges that team members may not have been aware of, too. In the end, it causes us to see things from a perspective that we may not have previously considered.

4. Laural, Yanny, and the dress

If you're not familiar with "Laural and Yanny", it's a soundbite that's heard differently by different people. Similarly, "the dress," was a 2015 meme that pictured a dress that different people saw in different colors. There is a scientific explanation for why people experience these things differently, but that's not important for the sake of this exercise.

How it works: Play the " Laural and Yanny " clip to the group. Ask them which name they hear. Put those who hear "Laural" on one side of the room and those in the "Yanny" camp on the other:

Then pair everyone with someone from the opposite camp. Have them listen to the clip together and talk about what makes them hear the name that they do.

You can also do the exercise using " ," in which case participants will see either a white or blue dress.

Why it works: The neat thing about this exercise is that there is no right and wrong. Those who see blue or hear Laural, really do. Those who see white and hear Yanny do, too. It forces participants to accept that someone else can interpret something differently without being technically wrong.

Beyond just empathy exercises

While empathy is often thought of as a touchy-feely soft skill, it's so much more than that. Time and time again, it's proven to be a trait that brings people together, builds trust, and creates strong relationships. And those who employ empathy in professional situations tend to be great collaborators and problem solvers that others enjoy working with.

With results like that, who wouldn't want to be more empathetic?

These exercises can help you teach both you and your team some critical skills for employing empathy both in and outside of work. But perhaps the most important way one can teach empathy is the same way that we learned it as children: by example. As leaders, we have to use empathy at every opportunity to demonstrate that it's more than just a skill, it's a better way to be.

¹ researchgate.net/publication/263475388_The_complex_relation_between_morality_and_empathy

² washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/12/20/the-surprising-thing-google-learned-about-its-employees-and-what-it-means-for-todays-students

nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/coronavirus-zoom-fatigue-is-taxing-the-brain-here-is-why-that-happens

psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-waves/202007/why-zoom-fatigue-is-real-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-combat-zoom-fatigue

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Empathy exercises: how to be empathetic in an increasingly online world | RingCentral

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We learn empathy at a young age. Through everyday observations and interactions, we continuously grow to recognize and understand the thoughts and feelings of others. It's inherent in all of us to some degree. But as we get older, the pressures of life combined with hundreds of daily distractions force us to subconsciously separate some of our feelings of empathy from many of our interactions.

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Testing Room Organization

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Minute Meeting Form - I use the same form for grade 3 - 6. Make a copy to tailor it to meet your buildings needs.

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I like to print this and hard laminate or put it in a frame. Then I can use a dry erase marker and keep in posted by my door.

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100+ Free Social Emotional Learning Resources

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Social and emotional learning, often known as SEL, is the process that helps kids learn critical skills, attitudes, and mindsets for social and emotional success. These skills cover five major areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships, and responsible decision-making. I

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This article was originally published on August 16, 2016. It was revised on July 11, 2017 to include a fourth, bonus exercise.
I recently lost my favorite pair of sunglasses and have been on the hunt for a new pair. The glasses were an older model that's no longer made, so I've been reluctantly searching for a similar pair. So far I haven't had much luck. In most stores, the salespeople were friendly and helpful, but that's about it. Until I walked into a SunglassHut last weekend. The salesperson greeted me and asked me if I was looking for anything special. I told him, as I'd told every other salesperson, that I'd lost my favorite pair of sunnies, and was trying to find a new pair.

Instead of telling me about the current promotions or trying to guide me on what he thought would look best, he first told me he was sorry that I'd lost my favorite glasses. He was genuine, and that immediately gave him trust points in my book. He then went on to ask me what I liked about my old glasses. He asked me to describe them in detail. Then, he showed me around the store, pointing out other glasses that might make a suitable replacement.

Although I didn't find the perfect pair that day, I got the salesperson's name and vowed to find a pair from the company and order them directly from him.

Empathy may feel like a buzzword these days, but its power is real. In just 10 minutes, an empathetic salesperson turned me into a loyal customer.

It's not just sales that benefit from emotionally intelligent employees. Teams benefit, too. One of the key factors for a successful team is the presence of empathy. This skill isn't always something that developers, designers, marketers, or managers are taught early on in their careers.
So how do you help your team hone their empathetic skills?
Like any skill, empathy requires some practice. Growing up, my parents taught me that qualities like toughness and persistence were most important. They'd convinced me that if I could survive a challenging situation or keep trying, I'd eventually reach my goals. This mindset can make the idea of empathy in business something that sounds nice in theory but challenging in practice for some employees.

Fortunately, there are many ways to help train teams learn to be more empathetic. In today's article, we'll cover three exercises teams can conduct to help foster a more empathetic environment.

Exercise #1: Curious George or Georgina

We've all heard the saying, "curiosity killed the cat." But is that true? A lot of times, especially when it comes to innovation, curiosity is what saves the day. It also happens to be a great way to help people develop empathy.

A great way to get teams to flex their creative muscles is to encourage their curiosity about a stranger. One of the commonly-cited UX "commandments" states that we're not like our users. That means that to better understand the user, UX professionals need to step outside themselves and forget what they know-at least for a little while. Understanding a stranger is a great way to get UX teams outside their comfort zones, and potentially inside the worlds of the people they're really working for.

I recently tried this myself on a long flight. Normally, I'd keep to myself and avoid any contact with the person sitting next to me. But on this flight I stepped out of my comfort zone and made an attempt to learn more about the people sitting next to me. After introducing ourselves, I tried asking a few questions and made a point of listening and asking more questions. I learned a lot about two total strangers and had achieved rare insight into their lives that I wouldn't have if I hadn't been curious.

How to do it

When: This exercise can be really fun, but for some, it can feel like a bit of extra work. I'd recommend making it a monthly or quarterly exercise, in addition to one or both of the other exercises outlined in this article.

How: Assign each team member the task of finding out three pieces of information from a complete stranger by a pre-determined deadline. The pieces of information can change each time, or remain the same, but the answers must come from conversation. Simply peppering strangers with questions won't achieve the intended effect. Teams need to engage and interact with someone they don't know and figure out how to elicit the responses required.

Some examples could be; Find out where a person grew up, their favorite food or restaurant, where they'd go on vacation if they could go anywhere for free. Your team can come up with the questions together, or they can be assigned by a manager. Once the deadline has been reached, gather the team to share what everyone had learned, and how the conversation impacted them.

Time needed: The first time this exercise is conducted teams will need about 10-15 minutes to understand the goal and timeline. After the first exercise, the questions and deadline can be sent via email. Once the team has their results, schedule a 30-60 minute session so the team can share their results and techniques. This is when the magic happens. When teams share their experiences and tactics, the entire team will learn what to do-and what not to do-to better engage with people they're not familiar with.

Exercise #2: Weekly highs and lows

Part of what makes empathy such a powerful skill, especially for those in the UX field, is our ability to understand another's situation. And a surprising way to train ourselves to do that, is by allowing our colleagues to be empathetic toward us, as well.

The problem is that many of us have been conditioned to believe that work is work, and that we shouldn't take things personally when we're on the clock. Sometimes it can be helpful to sprinkle a little personal information around here and there to help develop empathy in teams.

We do this here on the marketing team at UserTesting. Every Monday we have a stand-up meeting in which each team member shares one high and one low from the past week, both in their personal and professional lives.

When I first started with the company, I have to admit, I was hesitant to share anything about myself. But after a few weeks, I found I was learning more about my colleagues and what was important to them-both in the office and at home. After about a month I started getting comfortable sharing my own stories, and it wasn't long after that that I felt our team growing stronger and more collaborative.

As a result, it became natural for me to wonder-if not ask outright-how my colleagues and customers were doing (and mean it). Because my colleagues and customers felt I truly cared about what was going on in their lives, they felt more comfortable in telling me exactly what they wanted or needed.

This exercise is a fast, easy way that any small to medium-sized team can quickly develop empathy. (This exercise can work for larger teams. However, I'd recommend breaking the team up into smaller groups to keep meetings short.)

How to do it

When: This exercise can be practiced as often as needed. However, I suggest at least weekly. It helps develop a pattern, encouraging your team to think genuinely about their answers and creating a habit of the exercise.

How: Gather your team for a quick stand-up meeting, either at the beginning or end of each week. Ask each team member to share one personal high and low point of their week. (You can also add in professional highs and lows, too.) Allow a minute or two for discussion following each high and low, but try to keep it brief and balanced between each individual.

Time needed: This exercise should be brief, but not rushed. Around 10-15 minutes should do the trick, depending on your team's size.

Special considerations: Don't be surprised if you have a few team members who are reluctant to share their personal stories at first. If someone doesn't want to participate right away, that's fine. Encourage them to share a professional story instead. Over time, they'll most likely feel more comfortable and be willing to share with the rest of the team.

Exercise #3: Active listening (AKA polite eavesdropping)

In college, I reluctantly enrolled in an entry-level acting class to fulfill my general education requirements. I wasn't alone. Many of my classmates were anxious about getting on stage. Our professor was well aware of this, however, and gave us a special assignment to help assuage, and develop empathy for our inevitable stage fright.

We were tasked with going out into public and discretely listening in on someone else's conversation. The more awkward, the better. After observing our conversations, we were asked to present them to the group, describing the emotions we felt were expressed, including the points of view of everyone involved.

While this exercise may have been intended for a college-level acting course, it's also a great way to introduce teams to empathy through active listening. Because individuals aren't able to participate in the conversation, they're focused on only listening to and observing the conversation, creating a unique space for openly and actively listening.

How to do it

When: Since this exercise requires work outside the office, a less frequent timeline, like semi-annually or annually, will place less of a burden on teams. However, it can be run more frequently if a team is comfortable making the commitment.

How: Before sending a team out to eavesdrop on unsuspecting people, it's important to first express the intent of this exercise, and remind teams that goal is not to invade anyone's privacy, but rather to actively pick up on bits of conversations we'd hear in our normal daily lives. Individuals shouldn't seek out conversations to listen in on, necessarily, but rather pay closer attention to the conversations around them, and actively listen to what they hear in the time they'd normally be within earshot. Typically, one week is sufficient time to allow teams to actively listen to at least one conversation. I suggest assigning this exercise on a Friday and follow up with a 30-60 minute meeting the following Friday to share the insights the team has learned.

Bonus! Exercise #4: Check in with your emotions

If you've got a team that's resistant to the concept of empathy, then start with something a little easier to understand: our own emotions. Part of what makes empathy so powerful is that it extends and connects our understanding of our own emotions to those of others. Of course, that assumes that we're in touch with our own emotions, first.

Sometimes it can be difficult to empathize with others simply because we haven't been paying attention to ourselves. This exercise gets teams used to identifying their emotions on their own terms first, which should make it easier to graduate to more easily empathizing with others.

This exercise will come naturally for anyone that's set a reminder to drink water, sit up straight, or give their eyes a break from their screens. But instead of adjusting their posture, they'll be taking an emotional inventory.

How to do it

When: This exercise works best if done several times per day during the workweek (bonus if your team wants to continue over the weekend). If your team is used to setting regular reminders as a part of their daily routine, it can be combined with that or you can establish three or more set times per day for the team to spend a minute or two to check in with themselves.

How: At the established times, have your team spend up to five minutes concentrating on how they're feeling. You can leave this free-form, or provide prompting questions like, "What's your mood like right now, and why?" This can either be a thought exercise, or something the team writes down. If you have your team jot down their responses, be sure to carve out time during weekly meetings to give people the chance to volunteer to share. This can be especially helpful if the team is working to meet a tight deadline or confronting challenges.

This exercise is effective because it not only helps your team get in touch with their empathetic self, it also provides them with the opportunity to share their thoughts, giving the rest of the team the chance to experience and express empathy firsthand.

Next steps

Exercises like these are great ways to encourage teams to develop their empathy skills. But true empathy doesn't start and stop with the occasional team project. Like a user-centered culture, effective empathy skills need to be part of a team's everyday DNA.

To get started, it helps to lead by example. If you're managing a team, try these exercises yourself, first. Then when you're ready to ask your team to try them out, you'll have your own experiences to share. When your team can see that you understand what you're asking them to do, they'll be one step closer to walking in their user's shoes.

Promoting a user-centered culture in an organization is a great way to underscore the importance of empathy in the workplace. Both for users and for colleagues. By encouraging UX teams to consider their fellow human beings as they conduct their daily work, a more inclusive, empathetic environment will emerge.

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Three Exercises to Teach Your Team Empathy | UX Booth

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This article was originally published on August 16, 2016. It was revised on July 11, 2017 to include a fourth, bonus exercise. I recently lost my favorite pair of sunglasses and have been on the hunt for a new pair. The glasses were an older model that's no longer made, so I've been reluctantly searching for a similar pair.

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Testing Room Organization

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Integrating Mindfulness in the Classroom

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Integrating Mindfulness in the Classroom

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Integrating Mindfulness in Your Classroom Curriculum

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Make mindfulness a part of classroom learning by integrating it into curriculum-themed activities through exercises in breathing, sensory experience, guided imagery, and movement.

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The word "empathy" seems to be popping up a lot lately. It could be a byproduct of the time of year (the holidays are a time when words like "empathy" "compassion" and "understanding" can make their best show...), but with more of an emphasis being put on emotional intelligence, empathy is everywhere.

The Huffington Post ran a great article recently about emotional intelligence, outlining 14 ways you can find out if you have a high EQ (You can find the article here.) The article included a link to a quiz out of UC Berkley on recognition of facial expressions and emotions. One of the fascinating things about the quiz was that it not only tested your recognition skills, but it also broke down how the muscles in the face work to construct certain responses. It was a step-by-step guide to becoming better at understanding where others are coming from simply by looking at them.

In the interest of continuing this empathetic movement, here are 4 relationship building activities you can do this week to exercise those empathy skills.

Want to learn more about Relationship Building and EI? Watch our free webinar!

1. Take the UC Berkeley EI Quiz: See how adept you are at discovering the emotions of others, and then put your knowledge to work in real life by studying the faces of your coworkers and friends this week. Maybe you didn't realize your assistant was embarrassed about that last project he turned in. Once you can recognize it written all over his face, you can approach the situation with empathy as you guide him towards better results next time.

2. Ask "How do you feel about that?": When it comes to discerning how someone else feels, sometimes it's most helpful just to ask. Ask genuinely, with good eye contact and strong vocal production. Don't forget to employ your active listening skills to ensure that your colleague feels heard.

Challenge yourself to ask the question of 3 people this week.

3. Put yourself in their shoes: Once you've got an idea of how someone is feeling, take a moment alone to actually put yourself in their shoes. Ask yourself, "What would it really be like if I felt this emotion in this situation?" Allow the scenario to play in your head for a bit. This helps you step towards not only acknowledging someone else's emotional state, but finding a way to empathize with it.

4. Find the pain: Chances are you can identify the colleague who's had the toughest week. Seek them out and see how things could be made a better. Not only will you be helping a coworker in need, but you may find a way to solve a big issue facing multiple people- a win for office morale AND productivity!

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Professional Presence and Speaker Development.

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The word "empathy" seems to be popping up a lot lately. It could be a byproduct of the time of year (the holidays are a time when words like "empathy" "compassion" and "understanding" can make their best show...), but with more of an emphasis being put on emotional intelligence, empathy is everywhere.

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Bright Futures Counseling

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Find Your Inner Superhero is a simple confidence boosting activity to use with students individually or in small groups. This activity facilitates discussions on self concept and self esteem.

Directions: Students color in the traits they identify with and fill in the 4 blank boxes with traits of their choice!

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Self-Esteem Activity Find Your Inner Superhero! FREE Counseling Activity

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Find Your Inner Superhero is a simple confidence boosting activity to use with students individually or in small groups. This activity facilitates discussions on self concept and self esteem.Directions: Students color in the traits they identify with and fill in the 4 blank boxes with traits of the...

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Google Form Time Tracker/ Activity Form Example

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Google Form Time Tracker/ Activity Form Example

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The School Counselor and MTSS (ASCA article)

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The School Counselor and MTSS (ASCA article)

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Printable for Activity

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One of our favorite sites for all things counseling and MTSS.

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Our Mission

We collaborate with educators to align/integrate culturally sustaining MTSS and school counseling programs to meet the needs of ALL students.

We uphold our mission through our research, writing, presentations, trainings, and consultation. We focus on alignment of systems for the following reasons:

This book provides an overview of the what and the why behind the alignment of school counseling programs and MTSS. Written by school counselor educators and school counselors, it provides ample examples of alignment across universal, tier 2/3 evidence based practices, data, and collaboration strategies.

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District School Counseling Leader & School Counseling Adjunct Professor

Check out the recent edition of ASCA Magazine featuring three of our articles on MTSS and Dr. Emily Goodman-Scott!

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School counselors for MTSS is committed to educating and training school counselors in multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS)

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I like to print this and hard laminate or put it in a frame. Then I can use a dry erase marker and keep in posted by my door.