Could empathy have the power to heal?
The link between stress and susceptibility to illness is fairly well established but what if you could start healing just by going to see your doctor?
No pill.
No x-rays.
Just the experience of being heard and listened to.
Now “power” is a strong word and I don’t want to overstate the case, but there is a study that suggests the way a practitioner approaches a client and the warmth of their relationship actually has something to do with healing.
David P. Rackel, MD and other researchers at the University of Wisconsin looked at the effect that practitioner empathy had on the severity and duration of colds in their patients.
As part of this randomized, controlled experiment, 350 participants had either standard or “enhanced” visits with their physician, with the enhanced visits emphasizing an empathic approach by the physician.
After the visits, participants completed a questionnaire on the physician-patient interaction.
Their cold severity and duration were also measured twice daily.
The result?
Those participants whose physicians showed higher levels of empathy had less severe and shorter colds than the participants who scored their physicians lower on empathy.
You can find the entire study in the July-August, 2009 issue of Family Medicine.
What is it about empathy that seems to have this effect?
We don’t really know for sure, but I suspect we’ll find the answer to that question in one or both of the following ways.
It could be a result of mirror neurons (something scientists are just beginning to explore).
And certainly the study suggests epigenetics – that experience turn genes on and off, which affects health outcome.
Studies like this show that the more in-tune we are with our patients, the more we are able to positively influence their healing.
This is one of the reasons that we created the Brain Science Webinar Series.
We speak to many experts in the field of neuroscience who provides us with immediately applicable approaches to use with our clients to enhance their health.
Have you seen the healing possibilities of empathy first hand? Please leave a comment below.
Yes I certainly find that listening, really listening to my patients, considering their views and educating them (by explaining what they have and how the treatment works) and then including them in the healing process with active participation with specific exercises, home icing heat etc. works very well indeed. Also I believe that a collaborative process helps to prevent further episodes – the patient feels more in control of their own health which is so very empowering. So there appears to be a number of elements at work, not just placebo… This is also a very satisfying way to work :).
Perhaps it is more important than we realize, that when we feel like finding a friend to listen to us, we do so. We may be preventing an illness. There may be all kind of possibilities for making the world a better place. It wouldn’t hurt to become more skilled at listening and see what happens.
Donna Ellison
Don’t know about the common cold, but i do know that a warm and friendly Therapist who really listens to me when i am concerned aabout some tough life issues, who makes some gentle suggestions that may improve my thinking and feeling so that my doing then might become more focused and effective , then this is truly empathetic and therapeutic. elizabeth
What if love causes the body to relax and open up, allowing normal functioning?
What if fear (the absence of love – anger, sorrow, grief, terror, boredom, judgment, etc) causes the body to contract and blocks normal functioning?
What if this has been known for eons?
It’s nice that “science” is catching up to common sense.
It is often severe cold or ‘ flu which prevents several of my Trustees from travelling to our regular meetings Each already gives huge amounts of their energies and time to support needy bods in our communities– greater self recognition of their beneficialcontributions to others would probably give them rather more strengthened physical and personal health…
The book ” Monsters and Magical Sticks” by Steven Heller, PhD & Terry Steele is highly recommended in order to understand HOW ‘ empathy ‘ heals a person’s dual-brain / bilaterally symmetrical body. c.1987
“The Biology of Belief” by Bruce Lipton is a genetic Paradigm-shifter
“Iodine … Why You Need It … why you can’t live without it” by David Brownstein, MD is insightfully indispensable regarding essential nutrition c. 2009
“Minding My Mitochondria” by Terry L. Wahls, MD is highly recommended for overall BRAIN-body nutrition that WORKS ! ( She overcame stage 4 MS – multiple sclerosis ! ) c. 2010
But the BEST is “HEALING IS VOLTAGE… Healing Eye Eiseases” by Dr. Jerry Tennant, MD c. 2011
I luv your series on the brain and all the others I’ve been privileged to listen to. Thank you.
I luv that science is finding more and more connections between mind-body-spirit. I do believe that a practitioner’s empathy goes a long way to healing.Empathy evokes the feelings connected with compassion and concern.
I was dx w/cancer in December and am grateful that I have professionals who have shown me such empathy as a whole person. Alongside from the treatments (holistic and allopathic), I believe that is why the tumor has shrunk and that the malignancy is now dormant. It certainly makes going to the doctors less stressful, even ‘tho the news isn’t always what I want to hear.
Thanx again for your series.
Regular adherence to the PWS (Paradoxical Waking State) of the Basic Rest Activity Cycles (BRAC)
during the waking day instead of coffee breaks etc, does the same thing!
Hello John, It is many years since you introduced Deborah Fish and me to your BRAC cycles, and we’ve used them ever since. Deb is practicing in the UK now. I have found that it is much easier to introduce BRAC to people than to meditation. After all, everyone that I know is interested in an Ultradian break and the mystery of one’s nostrils swapping sides; and when to do taxes or take a break! I think kindly of you every night as I settle onto a pillow….and breathe more comfortably.
I have feeling fascinated with these series. I have been using these approach for years not only in the clinical field, as a psychotherapist also with organizations while working as an organizational psychologist all around. But the most important one, is with my personal relatioships. Now, is becoming proven.For me the word is connection. I am so happy, I could scream. actually I did it!!!
Thank you again for this wonderfull opprotunity
Wow this is extremely interesting! I don’t do research however I know experientially that being present and in tune with clients makes all the difference, for a variety of reasons. Thanks for sharing!