The Art of Empathy

By: Karla McLaren

Narrated by: Karla McLaren

Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

Some of us are natural-born empaths - those with an exceptional gift for feeling and understanding the emotions, circumstances, and needs of others. But empathy, teaches Karla McLaren, is a universal human skill that we can all learn to awaken and use wisely. With The Art of Empathy, you will learn, step-by-step, the art of experiencing through the eyes and hearts of those around you - and to connect with and support them most effectively. Drawing on insights spanning social psychology, current brain research, and traditional healing and spiritual wisdom, this acclaimed teacher and author shows us how to:

• Discover and strengthen this natural social and emotional ability
• Prepare for empathy training by learning to identify and regulate our emotions and boundaries
• Move into the felt experience of others with authenticity and respect
• Stay rejuvenated on the empathic path through grounding, healthy boundaries, and replenishing with joy
• Improve our intimate relationships, parenting efforts, and workplace issues
• Expand empathy into our communities and the natural world

As our social landscape and ways of connecting continue to shift and evolve rapidly, empathy may be the most essential skill for navigating our emotional and interpersonal lives. The Art of Empathy provides us with the insights and training to master its many dimensions.

©2013 Karla McLaren (P)2013 Karla McLaren

Exceptional way of explaining emotions.

I confess that it took me a while to find a book that would talk about empathy without being mystic or with too much emphasis on low empath people.
I love the fact that the author went after the science behind empaths and developed this depicted and careful explanation and a training of your own level of empathy.
It was touching and smart and bright and very insightful.
I'm so glad I found this book!

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Awesome Book

What a great read. I really learned a lot. About how the different personality types view the world which has really helped me.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

A must read for everyone

Increadibly insightful. No matter your current level of empathy, emotional intelligence or stability, this book will move you several steps forward.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Immensely helpful

Very good for foundational understanding of emotions and how to handle them. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the subject.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Fans of Compassion - try Empathy and Compassion!

Would you listen to The Art of Empathy again? Why?

Yes. There is so much information in this book. Karla McLaren seems to be creating a whole department of learning, with all of these brand new terms, and it is totally okay, in fact it is brilliant. So read it again and take notes.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is the young Karla. I imagine her whispering to dogs as she sits under the table free of stimulus, because dogs are without judgment and love you no matter what.

What did you learn from The Art of Empathy that you would use in your daily life?

I learned you can present as completely uninterested and actually be burnt out empathetically but highly empathetic.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Wow, amazing!

Loved this book! Thank you Karla for your extensive research but mostly for sharing your findings and personal story. If you have read her other book Language of Emotions you might think some parts are repetitive but in my opinion these are required to put her point across. The last chapter where she talks about workplace empathy was very significant to me and it also summarized her work in a practical way.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

emotional common sense

everyone should read this or listen to it. really good for managing emotions and working with people around you.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Just woah!

I loved this book. I've learnt so much! thank you for sharing Karla for helping me take my first steps into intentional empathy. My emotional partner is a hyper empath and I've always struggled to understand her. I decided to read this book as part of my commitment to be better and more supporting. It has definitely made me more aware of her needs and also my own! Some readers might find the book only helpful during the last 2 sessions because they are more hands on empathy how-to, but coming from a complete lack of emotional education I really appreciated the first 4 "intro" sessions into the world of emotions.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

must hear

it's amazing to see how I can feel so annoyed by the Raider personality and still get so much out of this.

my biggest takeaway is the questions that helps to clarify the needed actions for emotions when they arise ❤

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great book on emotions, connection, and empathy

Loved the book. Great job at explaining emotions and how they allow us to connect. It helped me grow my own capacity for empathy!

Very insightful :)

This audiobook is full of gems and applicable tools. At the same time is very easy to listen and engaging. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Loved everything about this

One of the best audiobooks I've listened to. Wonderful delivery from Karla, she's so warm and refreshing to hear, and her words were really valuable. I hadn't heard of her before but will look up her other books on the basis of this one.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

excellent

found this book really helpful and changed my thinking, helping me to connect more empathically

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Best book on emotions

I was looking for a book to help me increase my empathy. This book certainly helped in that, but the hidden gem inside that I didn't expect were the chapters in the beginning on emotions. What are they, and what should we do with them. Those were an eye opener, and those chapters (2 and 3) alone are worth reading the book. The subsequent chapters are decent, but can be a bit long for the amount of information they convey.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great Audiobook

The author has great insights and explains her point of view so clearly without patronising listeners which is a hard line to tread. Her naration is very good as well, it just feels like you are having a nice chat rather than someone lecturing at you.

Really Interesting

What made the experience of listening to The Art of Empathy the most enjoyable?

Karla is American and has such a lovely voice to listen to. This audible book is so interesting.

What did you like best about this story?

Very educational. I've learnt so much.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

This is definitely worth a listen. I'm training to become a counsellor in the UK and The art of Empathy has been a God send, especially for the work around emotions.

A must study for humanity!

If only her teachings would be taught in schools there would be less stress, anxiety, misunderstandings in the world. but then of course with more balanced well communicating people walking our planet consumerism and sales of products which rely on all these weak emotional states to drive profits would one day dry up and comrporatilns seas to exist.

Brilliant

Thank you for this wealth of information. It's so useful. There's so much in it I'll be listening to it again and again to really absorb it. You have a lovely voice which made listening really enjoyable.

Come on and learn the emotion!

Pros:
- Very kind voice
- Understand the real meaning of empathy

Cons:
- Wish it could have more real life examples

Thought-provoking, and beautifully read.

What made the experience of listening to The Art of Empathy the most enjoyable?

I found the author's voice very engaging and easy to listen to - something that is not typical of most reference/self-help books.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could easily have listened to it in one sitting - it was fascinating!

Any additional comments?

This has been a *really* useful book for me as a trainee counsellor.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful