Empathic: A Companion For Counsellors And... | Being

Leo felt that familiar pull—the urge to jump in with a solution, to offer a "fix" that would smooth over her trembling hands. But the core lesson of his "companion" echoed in his mind:

Leo looked back at the book on his desk. He realized that being a companion to his clients required him to first be a companion to himself—to understand his own capacity for feeling so that he could keep the door open for others. Being Empathic: a Companion for Counsellors and...

By the time Sarah left, the rain had turned to a drizzle. She wasn't "cured," but her knuckles were no longer white. Leo felt that familiar pull—the urge to jump

Instead of explaining the "mechanics of swimming," Leo simply nodded, letting the silence hold her words. He imagined himself standing in that water with her, not pulling her arm, but just holding a lantern so she wasn't alone in the dark. By the time Sarah left, the rain had turned to a drizzle

The rain drummed a steady, rhythmic beat against the window of Leo’s small practice. On his desk sat a well-worn copy of It wasn't just a textbook to him; it was a map he consulted when the fog of other people’s pain became too thick to see through.

"It feels like everything is moving too fast to catch, doesn't it?" Leo said softly.