Actually, self empathy is far more powerful, and is probably what some people refer to as self compassion. Empathy is about understanding the “why” underlying our thoughts and feelings, and just as we might do with others, we often have to ask ourselves open ended questions to explore our “why”. This is where kindness is so important, and also acknowledging and validating our motivations. We do have very valid reasons for feelings of guilt, shame, and worthlessness, which is quite different than the beliefs themselves being valid. One powerful question that we can ask ourselves is, “How true is that, really?” when we catch ourself in some self critical thought. Followed by, “What is more true in this situation?”

I suggest to be wary of the compassion trap, even self compassion. It can just take us deeper into our story.