While most studies cited are more than a decade old the relationship between empathy and helping remains unchallenged in the 1990s additionally while there is confusion about whether empathy is a personality dimension an experienced emotion or an observable skill it is shown that empathy involves an ability to communicate an understanding of a clients world. The importance of empathy in developing relationships by a listed counsellor therapist published on 2nd january 2017 empathy is the art of stepping imaginatively into the shoes of another person understanding their feeling and perspectives and using that knowledge to guide actions the key to communicating empathy is the ability to listen . While most studies cited are more than a decade old the relationship between empathy and helping remains unchallenged in the 1990s additionally while there is confusion about whether empathy is a personality dimension an experienced emotion or an observable skill it is shown that empathy involves an ability to communicate an understanding of a clients world. 1992 empathy in the helping relationship journal of community health nursing vol 9 no 1 pp 63 63