Giving Empathy by Connecting with Feelings & Needs

COP: Giving Empathy by Connecting with Feelings & Needs

Synopsis

As space-holders, empathy is our most essential tool for building community and supporting others. However, sometimes "active listening" isn't enough to help someone move forward. In this 2-hour session, you’ll learn the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) approach of "Empathic Guessing." You will learn how to listen past the "story" to the Feelings and Needs underneath, helping those in distress find immediate clarity and relief.

You will leave with:

- The "Needs-Based" Lens: A structured way to reflect back what matters most, moving from the surface drama to the core issue.

- Emotional Literacy: A vocabulary to translate "victim-language" (blame and judgments) into the deeper feelings and needs driving the distress.

- The Pivot to Action: How to identify the "empathy sigh"—the physiological sign that someone has been fully heard and is finally ready to move toward strategies and solutions.

Bio

Yi Han is on a mission to plant the seeds of peace in the hearts of people. As Head of Education and Impact for GUILD Asia, he is designing and facilitating impactful learning experiences focused on mental wellbeing, social and environmental causes. Yi Han is an avid practitioner of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and can be relied on to give an emphatic listening ear and mediate conflicts. He is now leading the NVC Circle in A Good Space and exploring how to integrate this collaborative form of communication into the organisation culture. In his free time, you may find him enjoying a hike in the forest or nurturing new life at his garden.