ABSTRACT
This chapter substantiates the widely held view that empathy is crucial to all forms of helping relationships. Additionally, while there is confusion about whether empathy is a personality dimension, an experienced emotion, or an observable skill, it is shown that empathy involves an ability to communicate an understanding of a client's world. To consider the implications of the available research evidence supporting the hypothesised relationship between empathy and helping, it is useful to review the intended outcomes of the helping relationship. Empathy combines the two levels of empathic attitude and communicative ability and it appears to be relevant to what nurses ought to be doing during relationships with their clients. The chapter concludes that empathy is an interpersonal skill that is dependent upon the attitudes and behaviours of the helping person. Empathy is a form of interaction, involving communication of the helper's attitudes, and communication of the helper's understanding of the client's world.
