Top To Toe Total Therapy

Empathy is very healing. Just giving your time to someone, to be with them or listen to them, allows some degree of healing.

A scientific study a few years ago compared an ‘empathy enhanced’ consultation with a standard consultation, where 719 patients visited their doctor for the onset of a cold. The patients were asked to asses doctor empathy using a CARE questionnaire (Consultation And Relational Empathy).

Those who received an empathy enhanced consultation, and scored their doctor at 10/10 for empathy, had a much higher immune response then the other patients and they also recovered much faster.

Empathy seemed to make the difference. In some ways, empathy can reduce stress as a person feels listened to. This can give the immune system a boost by relieving pressure on it. Empathy can also help them believe that things will improve - in the above study case, that they will be fine, and this it taps into the link between belief and biology.

In addition, empathy can help some people feel validated and this can be highly empowering.

Empathy is innate to us. We have an inbuilt pull to care for each other. It’s nice to know, I suppose, that it benefits others in multiple ways when we care.🙏❤️

And if I need to lighten this post a bit, I just realised that the image and wording blend I chose looks like an album cover.🤣

Image Credit: The Power of Positivity

Nature 😍

The moon in the sky at 6.35am this morning 😍

A walk at dusk 😍😀