Empathy Week 10-14th March 2025

Empathy Week - 10-14th March 2025

What is Empathy?

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of other people.

People often describe empathy as ‘walking in someone else’s shoes’.

Why is Empathy important?

· Empathy helps create a kinder community for us to live in.

· Empathy helps form happier relationships with our friends and family.

· Empathy helps us feel happier in ourselves.

· Empathy helps us understand our own thoughts and feelings.

How can we build empathy?

Empathy is a skill we can learn - the more we practice empathy, the better we understand our own and other people’s feelings. Empathy is being able to understand how someone else feels.

We can build empathy using the 5 ways to wellbeing:

Give: Offer to help someone you know

Keep Learning: Read a book and point out the how the character may be feeling

Connect: Spend time listening to your friends and family. Give them your full attention and make eye contact

Be Active: Do an activity that they like and makes them feel better

Take Notice: Can you think of a time where you showed empathy? How did you feel?

5 a day for mental wellbeing (GIVE, KEEP LEARNING, CONNECT, BE ACTIVE, & TAKE NOTICE) and trying to understand other people’s feelings may help.

Spending time together with people who understand and share feelings can help us to feel better. 5 steps to mental wellbeing - NHS