COUNSELOR’S EMPATHY: THE PRE-REQUISITE FOR EFFECTIVE COUNSELING

Empathy is essential for quality care of clients. The ability of a counselor to be empathic in a counseling session influences the effectiveness of the counseling session. Carl Rogers listed empathy as one of the core condition of effective counseling (1957). Empathy was said to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of the counseling relationship by providing the condition of acceptance and understanding between the counselor and the client. This article will explore various aspects of empathy, including its definition, its relationship with emotional intelligence, its contribution to the counseling relationship, the level and stages involved and ways of enhancing counselor’s empathic ability. Overall, this article intends to increase the level of understanding of counselors towards this abstract concept of ‘empathy’.