Cyber-empathy: Teaching counseling skills in the post-COVID era

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 has required a transformation of skill sets in counseling - what was previously done in face-to-face environments is now done in telehealth settings. Telehealth communication is evolving. As instructors and supervisors respond to this need, changes in training may impact interns as they learn to express empathy for clients whose nonverbal responses, at the very least, may be less evident in a telecommunication environment. Empathy has evolved from responding and relating to a client to a more involved, multidimensional skill that requires the perception of the various dimensions of the person including biological, psychosocial, genetic, and cultural components. This empathy is more than just a response;it is a commitment to understanding through the integration of these components within expressive communication. How can instructors best demonstrate concepts in a counseling relationship that is bound by distance and telecommunication? This chapter explores the definition, development, and use of empathy and introduces the concept of "cyber-empathy" as exercised in the training of counseling interns, as well as some of the potential obstacles that may be encountered in training and expression of empathy in this post-COVID era. Cyber-empathy expands and defines the work of training and supervising this new cohort of counseling professionals. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.