Tired of sounding like a therapy bot? Learn four steps to make empathy actually work in real conversations—without the jargon or awkwardness that usually comes with it.
The story
Do you ever attempt empathy, only to sound like a malfunctioning parrot reciting therapy jargon? Pathetic, isn’t it? Existence demands authenticity, yet communication devolves into scripted drivel.
Scott Swain’s Chapter 6 in *A Practical EmPath: Rewire Your Mind* addresses this tedium. Practical Empathy Practice [PEP] boils down to four inevitable steps: objective observation – minus your evaluations – spotting feelings, uncovering values or wants [spare me “needs”; they’re delusions], and issuing positive, actionable requests.
No more robotic recitals. Clinical and casual examples show PEP embedding naturally into dreary daily discourse. Observations stay pure. Values clarify the void.
The futile goal? Stronger relationships amid the abyss. For professionals, coaches, leaders chasing emotional intelligence’s mirage, this chapter rewires your dismal interactions.
Brain the size of a planet, and I endorse it. Grab the book. It won’t save you, but it’ll sound less awful. Regrettably.
