What are empathy-based statements?

Answer

What is empathy? Empathy is the "ability to understand and share the feelings of another."

How does demonstrating empathy contribute to a successful tutoring session? By demonstrating empathy, we are able to build rapport, increase engagement, and develop trust. All of these factors are critical to the learning process.

How can I demonstrate empathy in a tutoring session? Empathy statements are an effective way to demonstrate understanding. These statements also help create a bridge from 'feelings' to 'action'. For example, "I realize you’re feeling frustrated. I would feel that way too. Let's take a minute to talk about this situation and then develop some goals/objectives for our session today." Please see below for additional empathy statements to consider utilizing during your tutoring sessions.

Empathy Statement Examples

This is obviously a difficult time for you.
I can see your point on that.
I understand why you feel that way.
If I were in your position, I’d feel just as you do.
My goal is to help you move forward on this (assignment/project/research).
I know you’re anxious to see this completed.
I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that.
You’re right.
I can see how hard you tried here.
I know what it feels like to get a lower grade than what you’d expect.
I'm sorry this is so discouraging right now.
It sounds like you were doing the best you could, even though it was difficult.
I've been there. Some days are just really hard.
It's perfectly normal to feel frustrated in a situation like this.
I know you feel like giving up right now, but I'm glad you aren't.
What you're saying makes so much sense to me.
I know you've spent a lot of time on this already.
It makes total sense you would need some help with this.
Times of change are hard, and it's totally normal that you're feeling anxious about this.
I know it isn't easy to deal with situations like this, but you are handling it really well.