Expressing empathy is crucial to meaningful communication, but it is not an easily acquired skill; it takes practice. Here are a few practice examples. For any one or two of the following situations, indicate in one sentence (or more) how your respond to the speaker with thinking empathy and in one sentence (or more) how youd respond with feeling empathy. Assume that all three people are your peers.

a. I've never felt so alone in my life. Chris left last night and said it was all over. We were together for three years and now after a 10-minute argument everything is lost.

b. I just got $20,000 from my aunts estate. She left it to me! Twenty thousand! Now I can get that car and buy some new clothes!

c. A Camry! My parents bought me a Camry for graduation. What a bummer. They promised me a Lexus.