Empathy

All our behavior ultimately emerges from what we are feeling. Only by delving into our feelings can we discover what's driving our behavior and discern the action we need to take.

We need to employ a different language to communicate with anxiety. 

Empathy is the ability to connect with what other is feeling. This requires us to accept that it's okay for our child, partner, or friend to feel a certain way. Of course, they do, since we are two distinct beings. This is the natural order of things in a healthy relationship. We don't need to change the other, any more than we need to change ourselves. We simply need to recognize the validity of the other's feelings, even as we want our own feelings to be recognized.

- Dr. Shefali -