3 Learn how to support others

It’s important to look after each other.

Supporting others your own age has a positive impact on their mental health and wellbeing.

You might fin these steps useful in providing support to a friend.

WATCH THIS

TRY THIS.

If you ask someone how they are, make sure you:

Put yourself in their shoes and think about how they must be feeling.
Listen well when they speak to you. Make sure you look at them and don’t interrupt.
Recognise how they are feeling. Say “I can hear you are feeling…” Let them know that what they are going through is significant. Say “That sounds really challenging.”
Thank them for opening up to you. Say “Thanks you for sharing with me. I’m here for you.”
Check in. Make sure you see how your friend is going soon after your first conversation.

Why is it important to respond with empathy?

Being empathetic towards others helps them to open up and speak about how they’re feeling.

3 Learn how to support others

Understanding Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand how someone else is feeling or to understand the situation they are in. It is the ability to “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” and to understand the way a situation might make them feel.

Which of these statements might you use if you want to show empathy? Which statements are not empathetic?

Understanding Empathy

Which of these statements might you use if you want to show empathy? Which statements are not empathetic?

Choose the correct colour for each statement

Drag and drop the statements into the correct column.

At least you have other friends

I can see why you are really hurting

I can see how difficult this has been It sounds like you did everything you could

I can see why you would be upset

You really need to think more positively

Maybe you need to try and forget about it

It’s not such a big deal, I think you need to calm down

You must have felt so annoyed

The same thing happened to my friend and they are fine

I can hear how angry you are feeling

At least you have other friends

I understand why you feel this way

I’m not sure what to say, but I’m here to listen

That sounds like a hard experience

Surely it’s not that bad

Wow. I don’t know what to say

That sounds really tough

At least you got into the soccer team

Can I tell you what really helped me when I was feeling down?

Empathetic

Non-empathetic

At least you have other friends

I can see why you are really hurting

I can see how difficult this has been It sounds like you did everything you could

I can see why you would be upset

You really need to think more positively

Maybe you need to try and forget about it

It’s not such a big deal, I think you need to calm down

You must have felt so annoyed

The same thing happened to my friend and they are fine

I can hear how angry you are feeling

At least you have other friends

I understand why you feel this way

I’m not sure what to say, but I’m here to listen

That sounds like a hard experience

Surely it’s not that bad

Wow. I don’t know what to say

That sounds really tough

At least you got into the soccer team

Can I tell you what really helped me when I was feeling down?