In this podcast, we discuss the three types of empathy:  (1) Emotional:  This is when a person is able to emotionally mirror another person's feelings.  For example, seeing another person cry over the death of a loved one can elicit a crying response in another person because the other person feels the grief of the distressed person at an emotional level.  The ability to have emotional empathy is greatly impacted by mirror neurons.  Psychopaths and some people on the Autism Spectrum (and I do want to reiterate only some) have lowered empathy due, in part, to mirror neuron deficiency.  (2) Cognitive:  This type of empathy is known as perspective-taking.  Through this type of empathy, the person logically knows what to say to comfort the distressed person.  Psychopaths can possess this type of empathy.  (3) Compassionate:  This type of empathy combines emotional and cognitive empathy, allowing the observer to feel along with the distressed person and formulate a way to help them.'  Finally, empathy is not a superpower.  Most of the human population has empathy to enable them to develop attachments to their children and family members.  Empathy allowed us to be part of a tribal unit, which ensured the survival of our species.  Although there may be people who experience emotions to a higher degree due to trauma, there is no such thing as an empath.  Empathy is a common human trait.  Possessing empathy does not make a person special, it makes a person average.