How Art Can Teach Us Empathy
Image by: Juan Pablo Rodriguez
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In today’s fast world of information filled with myriad of distractions. Everyone is always on and immersed in screens and on the surface, it seems we are all ‘connected’ and part of one or another “social tribe”. But upon a closer look, we are not entirely connected, are losing out on human connection, and with it, our empathy.
And while we teach our children coding skills, math, and reading - we don’t spend nearly enough time teaching them emotions and empathy. Yet, research shows that emotional intelligence and the ability to feel with others leads to better empathy, which leads to compassion, better social interactions, and ultimately better society.
The problem with us humans is also that that oftentimes we tend to share our natural empathy with people that are similar to us. In her book The Empathy Effect, Dr. Helen Riess, argues that precisely because our culture is becoming more global and more connected, “We can no longer afford to identify only with people who seem to be a part of our "tribe." And through her work and research, she shows us that empathy is the skill that can actually be learned and expanded on.
Defined loosely, empathy is when we consciously imagine other people’s perspective and their experience and feel care and compassion for them. It is not to be confused with feeling sorry for someone but rather we should understand it as a form of love. You reach a feeling where your understanding for what another person is feeling is so strong that you not only can put yourself in their shoes but also feel what they are feeling so strongly, the differences between you or the “self and the other is blurred”.
A way to bridge the difference between people, improve observational skills, and teach empathy is through arts. Human experience in all its glory and gory is the building block and inspiration to all artists and according to Psychology Today, art can help people “see their differences in the context of our common experiences” because all of us have gone through life experiences and experienced love, grief, and self-doubt. Therefore, art can help us open our minds and our hearts to consider other perspectives, “stop for a moment and see something in a different way” which helps us overcome biases and preconceived notions.
And nowhere is empathy more needed than in healthcare. There are multiple studies and research, specifically Dr. Helen Riess research, that shows that there is decreased empathy and burnout among medical students nationwide. Since medicine has become increasingly focused on technological advances, medical professionals are often busily shuffling between patients looking at data and making it very hard to connect and really look at the patient in its human form, and in turn, form any type of positive connection or relationship. Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center is using something called BEAM (Bedside Education in the Art of Medicine), which is a project (and a mobile app) created by Margaret Chisolm and Susan Lehmann that encourages medical professionals to look at art and examine questions of empathy and observation in order to connect better with patients. At the heart of it, the BEAM creates a specific time in the middle of the day for medical professionals to sit down and “talk about patients in terms of the whole person, not just as vessels with symptoms and pathologies but individuals with emotions and a backstory.”
Understanding other people emotions is a key skill for all of us – it can help us improve our relationships, resolve conflicts, build better teams, make more meaningful connections, and overall increase our happiness and success. And if we can all agree that the world needs more empathy, then it definitely needs more art.
We encourage you to go see a play, read a poem or a story, go to an art gallery and let art open your hearts and minds.