Marion Schenk

Bereavement care and counselling are unthinkable without empathy and compassion. Nevertheless, professionals and volunteers repeatedly encounter situations in which compassion is lacking or empathy triggers pity. In order to remain psychologically and physically healthy oneself and to support others in doing so, it is not only useful but necessary to learn about ways to promote appropriate compassion. In contrast to compassion, which releases pleasant feelings not only in the other person but also in oneself, pity leads to excessive demands in the long term. Theoretical background on factors that limit compassion and generate compassion as well as illustrative case studies from practice form the basis for being able to develop the core competence of "appropriate compassion" in social work.