How to recognize and handle dark empaths in relationships [Video]

Most people have the ability to understand others’ emotions, while others’ can be manipulative without realizing it. Registered psychologist Lisa Rowbottom joined CTV Morning Live’s Kent Morrison to talk about identifying this behaviour in relationships.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Kent Morrison: Empathy, or the ability to understand others’ emotions, is generally seen as a good thing, but there can be a sinister side. Lisa, can you explain dark empathy?

Lisa Rowbottom: I think to understand dark empathy, you have to understand that we separate a psychologist’s empathy into two categories.

One is more of an “affect empathy,” so I can feel what you’re feeling, whereas the other piece is, “cognitive empathy,” where I can understand how it makes you feel, but I’m not necessarily experiencing it.

If I have cognitive empathy on its own, then I can comprehend your emotions, and I can manipulate them or use them, or work with them to get you to …