Which clinical skill is the ability to perceive another person's experience and communicate that perception back to the person?

• A. Concreteness
• B. Empathy
• C. Attending
• D. Summarizing

Answer: (B)

Empathy is the ability to sense another person's inner experience—their feelings, perspectives, and struggles—and then reflect that understanding back to them in their own terms. This back-and-forth helps the client feel truly seen and validated, which strengthens trust and the therapeutic connection. In practice, it means listening deeply, noticing emotions behind the words, labeling those emotions, and paraphrasing what the client is going through to confirm accuracy (for example, “It sounds like you’re feeling overwhelmed because…”) so they know you understand.

Attending is about being fully present and attentive, which sets the stage for empathy but doesn’t itself involve reflecting the client’s experience. Summarizing focuses on restating main points to clarify and organize content, while concreteness is about making statements specific and concrete. The essence of the option described is empathy—the reflective, validating understanding of another’s experience.