Empathy vs. Apology Part 1

Conveying empathy in a post-event situation is always appropriate and allows you to express an understanding of the situation and your desire to help.

Some examples of expressing empathy include:

• I am sorry your mother experienced this complication … I know this must be hard for you.
• This is upsetting news. I want to be sure I have clearly communicated what we know so far. What is your understanding of what happened?
• I’m so sad that this happened. You must be terribly upset, and so am I.