OPTIMISING EMPATHY IN DEALING WITH COMPLEX PROBLEMS DURING CHALLENGING TIMES- THE CASE OF MARIAM & EMPATHETIC PARENTING

With the unprecedented difficult times created by the COVID-19 pandemic, empathetic thinking is becoming highly important in defining how to deal with the turbulent life challenges that affected life and livelihood since early 2020. In order to show the empathetic influence in dealing with complex problems, empathetic-parenting is taken as a context. The paper shows how empathy differentiates the emotions, feelings from the behaviours that could be gained and practised during difficult times. The case study of Mariam is used to illustrate the role of empathy in empatheticparenting. The case reflects how parents' empathetic persistence bring in a differentiated outcome; despite the type of challenge in their life. The paper implies that the role of empathy in solving complex problems even in difficult times. The paper opens more line of research that could help generalise the importance of empathy in dealing with complex issues, and specifically during emergencies times.