Olga Klimecki did her PhD with
Tania Singer at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and at the
Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany. She is interested in understanding the neural
mechanisms that shape our social emotions in adaptive ways. In several longitudinal studies,
she examined
how far training social emotions, like compassion and empathy, changes
affective experience, prosocial behaviour, and neural function (as measured
by fMRI).
In January 2013, Olga started as a postdoctoral researcher
at the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences in Geneva, Switzerland. The goal
of the current project is to investigate the elicitation, expression and
regulation of anger.
In our dialog we discussed different definitions of empathy, sympathy,
compassion, personal distress, compassion fatigue and empathy fatigue.
People use these various terms differently and interchangeably. This
causes a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding. We also
explored dealing with personal distress
and how to developing personal resilience
by using mindfulness practices, empathic listening and empathy circles. Sub Conferences:
Science
July 2, 2019 "Empathy
and empathy-related processes, such as compassion and personal distress,
are recognized to play a key role in social relations. This review
examines the role of empathy in interpersonal and intergroup relations,
including intractable conflicts. Despite the limitations of empathy,
there is growing evidence that empathy and compassion are associated
with more prosocial behavior in interpersonal relations. Furthermore,
empathy and compassion have been associated with more favorable
attitudes and higher readiness for reconciliation across a range of
intergroup settings. This review ends by summarizing recent evidence for
the beneficial effects of compassion training on interpersonal and
intergroup relations and by outlining new avenues for future research on
how compassion training could reduce intergroup conflicts."
"These data extend standard economic theories that altruism
is based on fairness considerations, by showing that empathic feelings
can be a key motivator for altruistic behavior in economic interactions."
Klimecki, O. M., Leiberg, S., Lamm, C., &
Singer, T. (2013). Functional neural plasticity and associated changes
in positive affect after compassion training. Cerebral Cortex, 23(7),
1552-1561
Klimecki, O. M., Leiberg, S., Ricard, M.,
& Singer, T. (2013). Differential pattern of functional brain plasticity
after compassion and empathy training. Social Cognitive and Affective
Neuroscience.
Book Chapter:
Klimecki,
O., Ricard, M., & Singer, T.(2013).Empathy
versus compassion: Lessons from 1st and 3rd person methods. In T.
Singer, & M. Bolz (Eds.),Compassion:
Bridging practice and science(pp.
464-487). Retrieved from http://www.compassion-practice.org.
Klimecki, O., Ricard, M., & Singer, T.(2013).Empathy
versus compassion: Lessons from 1st and 3rd person methods. In T.
Singer, & M. Bolz (Eds.),Compassion:
Bridging practice and science(pp.
464-487). Retrieved from http://www.compassion-practice.org.
Klimecki, O., & Singer, T.(2012).Empathic
distress fatigue rather than compassion fatigue? Integrating findings
from empathy research in psychology and social neuroscience. In B.
Oakley, A. Knafo, G. Madhavan, & D. S. Wilson (Eds.),Pathological
altruism(pp.
368-383). New York: Oxford University Press.