Empathy vs Sympathy

Do you know the difference between sympathy and empathy? According to Dr. Brene Brown explains that sympathy is to see someone in a deep hole, but remaining on higher ground and talking to them from above. A sympathetic person may also try to simply put a silver lining on the other person’s situation instead of acknowledging that person’s pain. Empathy is feeling WITH the person, it’s climbing down the hole to sit beside them and making yourself vulnerable to sincerely connect with them. The empathetic person will recognize the person’s struggle without minimizing it. 

Here’s the link for a quick (2mins!) video by Dr. Brene Brown explaining this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw