What is Wellbeing? | Coping with Stress | Connecting with Nature | Sleeping Better | Express Yourself | School Support Teams | Ask for Help
Embedded Files
What is Empathy?
What is Empathy?
Empathy is the one human skill that underpins all other crucial life skills - leadership, creativity, communication, perspective, resilience and more!
We define empathy as the skill to understand another and the ability to create space for someone to reveal their authentic self, whilst reserving judgement.
Empathy is a vital (and teachable!) skill that sits at the foundation of great relationships - a precursor to connection, wellbeing & inclusion. If you want to improve the lives of students at your school, empathy must be involved!
Empathy for yourself, as well as others
Empathy for yourself, as well as others
When you’ve struggled with your mental health, you will often be very supportive to anyone who tells you that they are struggling. Because you know what it’s like, and you may not want other people to go through what you did, so you want to do whatever you can to help.
Empathy is a wonderful trait to have. It shows you care. And the world needs more people like you. But you have to make sure that you’re not stretching yourself too thin. There is only so much you can carry, only so much you can do in a day. So, whenever you’re supporting someone who is struggling with their mental health, always think about how it’s affecting you.
If you’re noticing your mental health is starting to get worse, it may be time to set some boundaries and make yourself a priority. It’s okay to tell your friend that you’re not in the best place and you can’t offer support right now. Looking after your friend’s mental health is not all on you. You can always encourage your friend to speak to an organisation who can help. That can be just as valuable.
Page updated
Report abuse