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Life Enrichment through Pattern and Routine
Published in Lisa D. Hinz, Beyond Self-Care for Helping Professionals, 2018
The term representational diversity refers to the ability to see things from another person’s point of view (Hinz, 2009). Being able to see things from a loved one’s perspective enriches the relationship. When this cognitive understanding is combined with emotional understanding, the term “empathic accuracy” is used. Empathic accuracy refers to how accurately a person can infer the feelings and thoughts of another (Sened, et al, 2017). Research demonstrates that empathic accuracy grows over the course of committed, long-term relationships. When people demonstrate increasing empathic accuracy in perceiving their partner, a deep sense of being known and understood develops that is correlated with increased relationship satisfaction (Sened, et al., 2017). For those of us in the helping professions, it is also important to cultivate empathic accuracy with clients. The term “exquisite empathy” has been used to describe the way in which expert practitioners engage their clients with deep empathic accuracy, but with firm boundaries. Preserving clear boundaries allows us to express empathy and encourage work within the therapeutic bond without confusing client emotional expression with our own (Harrison & Westwood, 2009).
Theory into practice II
Published in Michael Dixon, Kieran Sweeney, Sir Denis Pereira Gray, The Human Effect in Medicine, 2017
Michael Dixon, Kieran Sweeney, Sir Denis Pereira Gray
Is empathy something that we are born with or that we can develop? Warmth and a positive emotional attitude, as well as simply spending time with the patient, has been shown to be a major factor in whether the patient feels cared for.7 Empathy is, however, a reciprocal arrangement between patient and doctor, which is why it amplifies the health and well-being of the patient. EEG studies on patients seeing healers suggest that there is frequently a synchronisation of EEG patterns suggesting that empathy might be measurable. Whether on an electro-physiological level or an emotional one, synchronicity is clearly a vital component in empathy. Getting it right in the consultation is not about being slushy and nice but requires a deep intelligence far removed from simply following a treatment protocol. It is, therefore, not surprising to find that excellence in empathic accuracy is far more likely in those who are especially intelligent and cognitively complex.8
Theory of Mind and Suicidality: A Meta-Analysis
Published in Archives of Suicide Research, 2022
Bridget A. Nestor, Susanna Sutherland
Eligible studies used various measures of ToM. We determined measures and items from measures to be eligible if they assessed, through task or self-report, the ability to understand the thoughts or feelings of others. Based on this criteria, the following measures were included: Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET; Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Hill, Raste, & Plumb, 2001), Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition (MASC; Dziobek et al., 2006), False Belief tests (e.g., see Sullivan & Winner, 1993), relevant items from the Social Cognition and Object Relations Scale (SCORS; Westen, 1991), the Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (RFQ; Fonagy et al., 2016), and relevant items from an empathic accuracy task (Brook & Kosson, 2013; see Harenski et al., 2017), and perspective-taking questionnaires (i.e., Interpersonal Reactivity Index-Perspective Taking; IRI-PT; Davis, 1983). In cases of multiple eligible measures, the more widely-used measure, per our literature review, was selected for analysis (e.g., if a study used the RMET and a lesser known ToM task, we used data from the RMET).
Elite figure skaters’ experiences of harm in the coach-athlete relationship: A person-centered theory perspective
Published in Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2021
Lauren K. McHenry, Jeff L. Cochran, Rebecca A. Zakrajsek, Leslee A. Fisher, Sharon R. Couch, Brittany S. Hill
Jowett (2007) defined closeness as an emotional bond between coach and athlete that is reflected “through their mutual respect, trust, appreciation, and liking for one another” (p. 155). Jowett’s (2007) definition echoes Rogers’ (1959) definition of positive regard, but with the notion that coach and athlete both have consistent positive regard for each other. The present findings demonstrate that athletes may likely perceive closeness with their coaches even when their coaches do not reciprocate with mutual consistent positive regard. This directly reflects the power differential between coach and athlete and also aligns with Jowett’s (2007) construct of low co-orientation. Within Jowett’s (2007) framework, co-orientation refers to the degree to which athletes and coaches accurately understand the others’ feelings toward them. Jowett (2007) suggested that empathic accuracy is critical for coaches and athletes to achieve high co-orientation. Interestingly, Rogers’ (1959) theorized that empathy is necessary for one to cultivate UPR—a possible antidote to its opposite constructs. Thus, while we do not discount the benefit of closeness as it is defined by Jowett (2007) in well-functioning, highly co-oriented coach-athlete relationships, we do assert the responsibility of coaches to become aware of their power and facilitate closeness in a way that protects athletes’ emotional and psychological wellbeing.
Interventions with Serious Games and Entertainment Games in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review
Published in Developmental Neuropsychology, 2021
Gabriella Medeiros Silva, Jandirlly Julianna de Souza Souto, Thiago P. Fernandes, Ivan Bolis, Natanael A. Santos
However, the application of serious versus entertainment games as ASD interventions is a very complex debate. First, due to the heterogeneity of the protocols analyzed in the studies, which do not allow the generalization of the results of each analyzed game category. Second, because how games affect the brain and behavior is uncertain and depends on the characteristics of both the individual and the game (Bavelier et al., 2011). The findings of a clinical trial that assessed the level of empathy in healthy adolescents after traing with a serious game and an entertainment game may demonstrate the complexity of this type of comparison (Kral et al., 2018). In this study, no significant differences were found between the results of behavioral tests after training with the different types of video games. However, the authors attributed this to a ceiling effect, due to the perceived low level of difficulty by healthy adolescents, suggesting that a more significant effect might be seen in people with ASD. Consistent with this, magnetic resonance images revealed that the right temporoparietal junction, an area related to the perception of what the other may be feeling (Saxe & Kanwisher, 2003) showed greater activation after the sessions with the evaluated serious game. Thus, only the game designed to increase empathic accuracy was able to activate the brain area related to empathy. Moreover, training in empathic accuracy was associated with increased resting state connectivity between the dorsofrontal, prefrontal, and posterior cingulate cortical regions, a network recognized to be associated with mentalizing/perspective taking (Kral et al., 2018).