When anger hits, pause and map the other person’s internal logic instead of writing villain stories—Chapter 8 shows how cognitive empathy turns conflict into clarity.
The story
When anger lights up like a server on fire,
My thoughts start sprinting, leaving grace behind.
I pause, I breathe, I lower my desire,
To read their inner code, not lose my mind.
Anger loves a clean storyline: “I’m right, they’re wrong.” Cute. Also unhelpful. In Chapter 8 of *A Practical EmPath: Rewire Your Mind*, Scott Howard Swain offers a different move: Practical Empathy, a direct path from anger to peace, using *cognitive* empathy so you get clarity without emotional fusion.
# The tiny pause that saves the whole conversation
Notice the trigger first, your body, your heat, your mental latency spike. No judgment, just data. Space appears, and space is where choice lives.
# Practical Empathy, the brainy version
While you’re angry, ask: “What might they be thinking or feeling?” You are not excusing. You are mapping their internal model, fears, stressors, misunderstandings, so your mind stops free-styling villain fan fiction.
# Authentic communication after the refactor
Then you can say what’s true for you, without “You made me…” energy. More like: “I felt X because I value Y.” Connection gets possible again.
Swain’s point is simple and surprisingly tender: this practice rewires patterns, turning conflict into clarity, and clarity into peace. If you want a Chapter that de-escalates faster than your group chat on a Tuesday, go read Chapter 8.
