Time and time again, I have been told I need to be more sympathetic, and that I should not be so quick to offer advice, but rather to comfort.
I think that to a degree it is something that I need to work on, but how?
Does anyone have any good ideas of how to become more sympathetic?
Well, therapists are taught, among other things, to mirror a person’s emotions. For example, if someone is crying, they would comment “you seem very upset over this” or “I can see that this makes you angry”. This is nonjudgmental and shows the person that their emotions are getting through to you.
This might be something to try.