Module 6 - Empathy and Sympathy

INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your decision to start this "Empathy and Compassion" workbook. The good news is that you can develop empathy even if you feel like you've never felt anything like it before in your life. So, you can also learn how to respond in a compassionate way, even if you have caused others serious suffering in your life, both physically and emotionally, or because you have sexually abused them. This workbook, along with several other workbooks, has been developed to help people who have sexual behavioral problems. We strongly recommend that you work through the workbook “Who am I and why am I in Here?”, followed by “Why did I do it again?” and “How can I stop?” before you start working on this workbook. These workbooks will help you understand why you caused so much suffering and how to stop it. While this workbook on empathy and compassion guides you to help develop positive habits and behaviors towards others. Before you can start working on empathy, it is important to understand why you sexually abuse people and how to stop this devastating behavior. Trying to develop empathy while fantasizing about rape, child abuse, or other forms of sexually intolerable behavior is simply impossible! The other workbooks teach you about feelings, thoughts, and behaviors that all contribute to your anomalous circle. You will also learn about risk factors for sexual abuse and what you can do to change your behavior and stop abusing others. When you develop empathic abilities, you must first take responsibility for your sexually deviant behavior. This means that you cannot deny or minimize your crimes. If you insist that you have never harmed anyone, it is very unlikely that you will ever understand compassion and empathy. By your denial, you clear any thoughts about the pain you have done to your victim. However, your victim deserves at least compassion.