Being Empathic: A Companion For Counsellors And... ⭐

Leo looked back at the book on his desk. He realized that being a companion to his clients required him to first be a companion to himself—to understand his own capacity for feeling so that he could keep the door open for others.

As the session went on, the "companion" in Leo’s mind reminded him to check his own boundaries. To be meant feeling with her, not becoming her. He felt the weight of her grief, but he kept his feet on the rug of his office. This balance allowed him to stay steady enough to guide her. Being Empathic: a Companion for Counsellors and...

Leo felt that familiar pull—the urge to jump in with a solution, to offer a "fix" that would smooth over her trembling hands. But the core lesson of his "companion" echoed in his mind: Leo looked back at the book on his desk

Sarah’s shoulders dropped an inch. "I feel like I'm screaming underwater," she whispered. "Everyone tells me to just swim to the surface, but I don't know which way is up." To be meant feeling with her, not becoming her

"It feels like everything is moving too fast to catch, doesn't it?" Leo said softly.

By the time Sarah left, the rain had turned to a drizzle. She wasn't "cured," but her knuckles were no longer white.

He took a breath, anchoring himself in his chair. He didn't mirror her anxiety; he provided a container for it.