Empathy and empathetic listening can be highly useful tools for people recovering from an addiction.

These are some of the benefits of using this approach with other humans:

• It can greatly reduce the amount of conflict in the individual’s life. The most common reason why other people become angry is that they do not feel like they are being understood.
• One of the most important benefits of empathy is that it improves relationships. Those who have been addicted to alcohol or drugs will have done a great deal of damage to their relationships and empathy can allow them to repair this damage.
• It greatly improves communications because there is less likely to be misunderstandings.
• Failure to understand other people can lead to much suffering and negativity. Those that are empathetic will have a far more positive view of humanity.
• It can reduce feelings of bigotry, racism, sexism, and all other types of intolerance. Empathy allows people to see that everyone is in the same boat – there is far less of a feeling of us and them.
• Helping other people is a wonderful way for the individual to strengthen their only recovery. In order to really help someone else it is necessary to understand what it is they need.
• It makes people more open-minded about life in general. This is vital if people wish to develop emotional sobriety and build a successful life away from addiction.
• It helps people overcome self-absorption. This type of obsession with self can prevent people getting better in recovery.