What is Empathy?

Empathy is the ability to share someone else’s feelings ​or motivations and to understand their perspective.

There are two types: affective empathy and cognitive ​empathy.

Curriculum Snapshot

Created by a former teacher and educational coach, the HEROES Project was designed specifically for middle and high school students to help them develop empathy. With a variety of engaging activities, each lasting 5-15 minutes, HEROES is a “modular” intervention that can be used in a variety of settings, from intensive 1-1 counseling, to small groups, to class or school-wide.

Week 2:

• Weekly Anger Experience Scale
  
• Mindfulness: Sounds Meditation
  
• Check-in
  
• Finish and Share Goals
  
• Activity: Feelings Lottery*
  
• Shout Outs

*See sample below

Play the Feelings Lottery!

Instructions for the Feelings Lottery:

Choose specific words to focus on in the game, then cut them out or write them on individual cards. Put the words in a basket or non-see-through container. When the game begins, pass around a bag that contains different feelings. Students take one feeling from the bag and quickly pass the bag to the next person. Once everyone has a feeling card, we will share a personal experience about a time you felt that emotion and where you felt it in your body.

If participants are not sure about what the feeling is, they can ask others to help them describe the feeling and, if necessary, the facilitator can help by:

Providing a synonym for the feeling

Sharing a time when the facilitator felt that feeling

Defining the feeling

Sharing examples of when this feeling might be common for other people.

Behavior management tip: Challenge students to get feelings out of the bag as quickly as ​possible by timing them – e.g. “Let’s see if everyone can get a feeling word within 10 seconds. ​Here we go! 10…9…8…7....”

Time Frame: 5-10 minutes

Suggested Script for Feelings Lottery:

We are going to play a game called the Feelings Lottery. Let me tell you how to play it. When I ​say go, I’m going to pass around this bag. In the bag are feeling words. You will take one and ​then pass it on the next person as quickly as you can. After everyone has a feeling word, we ​will go around the circle to Whatever feeling you get, share a time when you experienced that ​feeling and where you felt it in your body.

Let me show you. [Facilitator reaches into the bag and grabs a feeling word.] I got “scared.” ​Hmm…Let me think….One time when I felt scared was when I was on a rollercoaster. It went ​really fast and it was really high. I felt it in my whole body but especially my hands. My hands ​were shaking a lot.

Okay, got it? What are we going to do when I say “go”? [Make corrections and check for ​understanding again as needed.]

Ready? Set? Go!

Welcome to HEROES Empathy Project, a program ​designed to support students facing challenges in ​managing their emotions and obstacles in their ​education. The purpose of this guide is to provide you ​with valuable information, resources, and tools ​necessary to successfully implement the HEROES ​Empathy Project in schools, youth-serving ​organizations, and businesses to build healthier ​communities that support healthy kids

Whether you are a teacher, counselor, administrator, ​or youth leader, this guide will serve as a valuable ​resource in your efforts to enhance empathy and ​emotional intelligence in the lives of young adults. ​Using evidence-based strategies and techniques, the ​HEROES curriculum focuses on cultivating cognitive ​empathy through group meet-ups that engage ​students through a variety of activities.

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