Benefits General

Alissa Stover  

At first, the concept seemed almost too simple:  

"I never expected that sitting in a circle with strangers would fundamentally change how I move through the world. But that’s exactly what happened when Edwin Rutsch introduced me to empathy circles.

At first, the concept seemed almost too simple: people taking turns speaking and listening, with no advice-giving, no problem-solving, just pure witnessing. I was skeptical. How could something so basic create meaningful change?

I showed up to my first session with all the usual defenses. I was prepared to help, to fix, to offer solutions. After all, isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? When someone shares a problem, don’t we show we care by trying to solve it?

But Edwin was clear, that my job was simply to listen and reflect back what I heard. To be present with whatever the speaker chose to share.

Simple? Yes. Easy? Absolutely not.

As I sat there, fighting every instinct to jump in with advice or relate back to my own experiences, I began to notice something I hadn’t understood before: what happens when people feel truly heard without judgment or interruption."

Increases Empathy and Emotional Intelligence.

 Martin Golder

My mediation mentor once told me that I had the emotional intelligence of a 2 year old. When I told this to a few female students they told me that they would have given me about 12, which they said is average for guys.

I was aware at the time that the ability to be truly empathic in conflict situations was a foundational skill to mediation. Empathy is closely related to emotional intelligence. So I set myself on a path to learn empathy and to increase my emotional intelligence. That path led me to Empathy Circles and the Centre for Building a Culture of Empathy. 

The incredible simplicity of the process makes it very accessible to anyone. And the immediate impact on the participants is dramatic.

There is no question in my mind that the combination of meditation and empathy circles is the way to increased empathy and emotional intelligence.