A masterclass in the transformative power of empathy from the Handmaid's Tale

Was anyone else moved by the scene between the doctor and June in this week's episode of the Handmaid's Tale? I found it a surprising - but welcome - empathic interlude in an otherwise brutal season. I'd even go so far as to suggest that the doctor gave us a masterclass in empathy and its transformative power. His gentle presence, kind questions and reflective listening shifted June from a state of despair and mistrust (of everyone) to one of honesty, clarity and determination. We can learn a lot from this short scene. Here's how I think he did it...

- At the outset he asks a simple but vital question, despite knowing the answer - 'are you doing ok?'

- He stays non-defensive in response to June's anger and checks 'am I harming you?'

- He shows an interest in June's story - 'did she [June's mother] get out?'

- He senses her emotions and acknowledges/names them - 'I'm sure you miss her' and, later, 'you feel hopeless' 

- He doesn't skirt around the real issues - 'how long have you been having suicidal thoughts?'

- He responds to June's accusations by gently explaining his motivations - 'I honour the handmaid's life by saving her child'

- He doesn't try to persuade June that she will see her daughters again (it is, after all, beyond his and June's knowledge and control). Instead he hears her despair and, when she is ready, he focuses on what she can decide/control... 

- He asks a great reframing question (which shifts June's mindset towards what positive action she will take) - 'how will you honour your daughters?'

There is an art to the above. It is a transformative journey he takes June on and it echoes the journey I take parties on during the mediation process. At the start she is mistrustful and closed. His empathy (expressed through sensitive pacing, questions and reflective listening) allows her to open up to him and reveal her raw emotions (anger, fear, grief, despair). He has then built up enough trust to ask brave questions that get to the heart of the problem (her suicidal thoughts) and give June new insight into herself (she realises firstly that she is suicidal, and secondly that the suicidal thoughts began when she 'realised [she] would never see her daughters again'). And finally, he asks an empowering question to reframe June's mindset and help her to decide what she is going to do.

As Abby Chandler from The Guardian put it in her recap of the episode: "It’s only when later speaking to the doctor that June realises the truth in Janine’s words, and recognises her own death wish. Everything she’s done since Frances was executed and Hannah was taken away has indirectly been to bring about her own death." However, I disagree with her that "The scene was a little heavy-handed, and June could have reached that realisation herself, rather than being told it by a convenient one-off character." On the contrary, I think June needed someone to sit side-by-side with her in her despair, to help her to explore that despair and hold a mirror up to it, and to find a way forward through it. Sometimes strangers or 'one-off characters' are just what we need.