Empathy key as CMHA marks 71st Mental Health Week

May 5, 2022 | 10:40 AM

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is marking Mental Health Week May 2-8, and this year the theme is empathy.

According to Merriam-Webster, empathy means: the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner.

It’s a trait that could go a long way in this day and age if more people could harness it, says Theresa Therriault, program manager with CMHA Central Alberta.

“Empathy is not about feeling responsible for fixing things. Our go-to method when we hear people struggle is to want to try and make things things better for them. However, empathy is more about being responsible for holding space for people, hearing them, acknowledging their fears, worries and stories,” says Therriault.

“What people most often want when sharing is to know somebody understands their perspective and is prepared to hear them out, without judgment.”

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She adds that empathy done right doesn’t minimize someone’s experience or their truth.

Therriault says empathy is as basic as putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.

According to a recent survey done by CMHA and researchers at the University of British Columbia, approximately 14 per cent of Albertans agree they feel empathetic at this stage of the pandemic. That’s down from about 29 per cent in the pandemic’s early stages.

CMHA Central Alberta has ongoing enrolment for its services, which include Recovery College, the Mental Health and Wellness Education Program, and access to a crisis counsellor.

There’s also a four-week course called ‘Conversations that Matter,’ starting May 31.

From May 13-15, CMHA is hosting a book fair at the Pidherney Centre.

More information is on the organization’s Facebook page.

More information about Mental Health Week is at mentalhealthweek.ca.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Empathy key as CMHA marks 71st Mental Health Week

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