Using Positive Empathy to Reduce Stigma Toward People Who Inject Drugs
In this Fresh Perspectives webinar with Amara Davis, she interviews Alex Clinton, a pre-doctoral graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, who authored the paper Using Positive Empathy Interventions to Reduce Stigma Toward People Who Inject drugs while at the University of West Virginia in the lab of Robin Pollini. As an early career scientist pursuing his Ph.D. in psychology, Alex offers innovative insight focusing on how empathy, specifically positive empathy, can be harnessed to achieve good. As an emerging study within psychology, positive empathy differs from the other forms of empathy. Positive empathy aims to create positive associations between groups by capitalizing on the sharing of others’ positive emotions and imaginations rather than the traditional concept of relating to another’s event in a sympathetic-like fashion. A distinction that in Clinton’s words is not only important but also is under-represented in the current scientific literature. This paper looks at the possibility of utilizing positive empathy in order to decrease stigma, citing the understanding that “stigma can serve as a barrier to access and utilization”. Discussed is how people who inject drugs are stigmatized not only by society but also that they can hold these negative beliefs about themselves. Clinton describes positive empathy as a tool to overcome emotional exhaustion and to address anticipated emotional exhaustion that stigmatized groups are particularly vulnerable to encountering thereby hindering compassionate treatment. Through using positive empathy, Clinton hopes to mitigate the burnout this can cause especially within the field of addiction treatment. When asked how these interventions can be applied, today, he cites the need for continued research in order to ensure long term benefit and emphasizes the importance of research looking into stigma reduction writ large.
To see Amara Davis’s full interview with Alex J. Clinton, see video below or view it on the LMI YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/L_R9TMNMK00
Clinton AJ and Pollini RA (2021) Using Positive Empathy Interventions to Reduce Stigma Toward People Who Inject Drugs. Front. Psychol. 12:616729. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.616729