Compassion and self-compassion · worksheet 132
Feeling other people’s pain can be exhausting. The researchers Tania Singer and Olga Klimecki distinguish this “empathic distress” from compassion: warmth and the wish to help, without drowning in the other person’s suffering. And compassion is also directed at you.
Before you start
- What it is for: To keep helping others without forgetting yourself, and to recognise when helping starts to harm you.
- 20 minutes.
- Feeling other people’s pain is human; wearing yourself out because of it isn’t inevitable.
- Looking after yourself is part of caring well.
Prefer paper? Download the PDF to print (with a page for psychologists).
What to do with your results
Looking after yourself isn’t selfish: it is what allows you to keep helping.
If you find it hard
If you have been exhausted for a long time, worksheets 97 to 105 (burnout) and a professional can help you.
For psychologists
The PDF also includes a page for the psychologist: how to run the exercise in session, points to watch and scientific references. You are free to use it with your clients.
For psychologists: aim, audience and duration
Distinguish empathic distress (feeling another person’s suffering to the point of exhaustion) from compassion (warmth and the wish to help), and build ways of helping that also protect the helper.
Family carers, health professionals, teachers, social workers, psychologists, very empathic people who wear themselves out. Duration: 20 min.
References
Singer, T. & Klimecki, O. M. (2014). Empathy and compassion. Current Biology, 24(18), R875-R878.
Klimecki, O. M., Leiberg, S., Ricard, M. & Singer, T. (2014). Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity after compassion and empathy training. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(6), 873-879.
These worksheets do not replace therapy. If you are in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe; 3114 in France, free, 24/7).
Free worksheet for non-commercial use: you may share it with credit to the author, without modifying it (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence).
