Thread: Empathy
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Old Aug 16, 2013, 06:46 PM
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Grand Poohbah
 
Member Since: Jun 2013
Location: In my head
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MLS Elaine Aron's website is The Highly Sensitive Person you can get the gist of it from there and then check out the books if you're still interested / when you have time. (Like almost every self-helpy book I've ever read, the important parts could be condensed into about 20-30 pages and the rest is fluff and perseveration on the initial points. They all start to lose me when the get into case studies and the author uses each one as an example of what a brilliant therapist she is.)
What I like about her work is that it reframes a sensitive temperament as something that can be very positive (similarly Susan Cain does this with respect to introversion in her book Quiet). Eg crying easily can be a marker of someone who is sincere and caring and if you lose the shame about it you can tear up in public with a lot of dignity rather than feel embarrassed or hate yourself for it.
Re: my earlier point, I guess you can't have empathy for yourself, the word I was looking for is "compassion."
Thanks for this!
Marsdotter