This article has a great point, to understand patients is part of the job as a good therapist, psychiatrist, etc. I also agree that empathy can be learned- only if you are willing to try. I find this article interesting, but from personal experiences I have a hard time agreeing with what the article is saying overall. It takes work to be an empathetic person if you are not naturally one and the exercise suggested in the article is what I said about being passionate on topics you may not actually be interested in on my third reflection post. I do agree with that, but I feel like you have to have a connection with being empathetic because connecting with individuals to help them is not the same as writing a good paper. I do agree with the fact that empathy can be abused and manipulators use empathy very well to mess with peoples’ minds. I have also personally experienced being manipulated by individuals because of their use of an empathetic facade to belittle my problems and what I have gone through. Someone in my past also would belittle me because they could not connect without having experiencing the same thing, which is talked about in the article and how it can be worked on. I have always been an empath, to a point that I have always been good at taking care of others no matter what the circumstances are and being so empathetic can honestly be a blessing and a curse. I have mixed feelings with this article because as an empath, I grew up in a house hold with very apathetic people who do not even try to feel bad for others whatsoever. Family members of mine act uncaring while I have always been the opposite and I do want to say that sharing experiences with some individuals that have talked to me can help. Either way, I am good at connecting with people and I even understand those who cannot be very empathetic as much as I wish I could help them. I do believe giving chances is important which I also liked about the article and it is a fact that empathy is not easy for those who have a hard time with it and sometimes being empathetic won’t work for everyone. I feel like its also important to communicate when in a therapy-patient setting so that both individuals can have an understanding. This is brought up in the end of the article when the elderly depressed patient decides to give the young resident a chance and also part of being empathetic is the sense people get from you which is definitely difficult. In the end the patient became very attached with their resident and that shows that giving chances can lead to good outcomes. I could write about empathy and my believes on it forever because I have been told by multiple teachers, friends, and myself that I have a big heart for understanding and helping others no matter what the cause is. This article did make me think for a while though on empathy and how it’s viewed. I wonder how people who are not able to connect feel…I wonder how those who are apathetic think about this article.