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Empathy Experts:
Video and Links:
Eve Ekman
2012-12-06 -
Researcher takes on ‘empathy fatigue’ in the workplace
Ekman hypothesizes that clinical empathy, instead of emotional
distancing, can help alleviate job burnout and energize caregivers to
act with compassion. Instead of being discouraged at claims of growing
‘compassion fatigue,’ which refers to the emotional numbing that
caregivers can experience, she has found herself heartened by how many
continue to demonstrate compassion in their jobs despite the daily
suffering they encounter
2012-01-01 -
Empathy as an
antidote for job burnout
New research suggests empathy and curiosity increase job satisfaction.
Ekman is among a vanguard of researchers taking decades of studies on
job burnout in a new direction.
Instead of looking only at external factors causing burnout, such as
heavy workloads, inadequate resources and difficult work relationships,
they're focusing how workers can develop empathy to spark and sustain
enthusiasm for their work. In doing so, they increase their
effectiveness, even in daunting work conditions.
Most of us have experienced job burnout – when we get
bored with our work or sick of our colleagues, for example. But what
happens when your work is all about other people? If you’re a doctor, or
a nurse, or a teacher? This is what Berkeley PhD student Eve Ekman calls
“empathy burnout.” Holly Kernan spoke with Ekman about her research.
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