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The Helpful Responses Questionnaire: a procedure for measuring therapeutic empathy
W R Miller1, K E Hedrick, D R Orlofsky
1University of New Mexico.
Journal of Clinical Psychology
|May 1, 1991
Summary
The Helpful Responses Questionnaire (HRQ) effectively measures accurate empathy. Training in active listening and crisis intervention significantly improved HRQ scores among paraprofessional trainees.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Work
- Communication Studies
Background:
- Accurate empathy is crucial in therapeutic and helping professions.
- Existing empathy measures may not capture the nuances of helpful responses.
- A reliable and valid tool is needed to assess empathy skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate the Helpful Responses Questionnaire (HRQ) as a measure of accurate empathy.
- To assess the reliability and validity of the HRQ.
- To examine the impact of specific training on empathy scores.
Main Methods:
- Development of the Helpful Responses Questionnaire (HRQ), a brief, free-response measure.
- Assessment of interrater reliability for HRQ items and total scores.
- Administration of the HRQ before and after a 2-day workshop on active listening and crisis intervention.
- Collection of normative data from 190 paraprofessional trainees.
Main Results:
- High interrater reliability coefficients for HRQ items (0.71–0.91) and total scores (0.93).
- Significant increase in HRQ scores post-workshop.
- Modest positive correlation between empathy levels and self-esteem.
Conclusions:
- The HRQ is a reliable and valid measure of accurate empathy.
- The evaluated workshop effectively enhanced empathy skills in paraprofessionals.
- Empathy assessment can be improved with targeted, practical measures like the HRQ.