The Social Attitude: Empathy Coach Timo Bornhofen is helping people understand emotional and cognitive empathy

What does it mean to get somebody or understand them? Some say it requires knowledge of what the other person is going through, while others believe that shared personal experience is needed. However, one thing that comes forth as a basic requirement is ‘empathy’, the tendency to share another person’s perspective. 

According to psychological research, empathy is one of the key ingredients of successful relationships because it allows humans to understand the perspectives, intentions, and needs of others. The fact is that the building block of the ethical and moral compass of humans is empathy. This is where Timo H. Bornhofen steps in. He is a certified systematic counsellor, coach, and supervisor, who uses his teachings and experience in social and psychological works to help people understand humanism, empathy, and cognitive behaviour. 

In a world that is increasingly marginalised and culturally divided, Timo’s project, The Social Attitude, aims to encourage healthier interactions between humans by increasing the knowledge of psychology and behavioural sciences. This led to the 40-year-old welfare coach starting an Instagram account, @thesocialwork. The concept was to introduce practical and useful methods of psychological work in a way that equally appeals to both professionals and non-professionals. “The descriptions I put up on my Instagram account encompass the core content and provide a sense of purpose and applicability. In doing so, I hope to inspire, generate ideas, spark curiosity and make emphases clear,” Timo Bornhofen explained. 

The social worker and counsellor takes great pride in his The Social Attitude project mainly because the idea occurred to him during a very difficult period in his life. He was diagnosed with black skin cancer, but he never lost hope. Thankfully, it wasn’t an aggressive one, and Timo got it operated. However, the time he spent in the hospital, facing the thoughts of leaving this world, was an eye-opening experience for him. All this sparked a light in Timo to share his psychological and philosophical knowledge with the world. 

Post-recovery, The Social Attitude came into being. When asked to shed some light on his initiative, he revealed, “This project was born when I was in the hospital. This is really a matter of the heart, and I am more than incredibly grateful for the constant support I have received on Instagram and for the wonderful people who have connected with me through this platform.” Timo Bornhofen really hopes for his audience to draw some help, inspiration, and added value from the content he creates on the social website.

Timo Bornhofen is a Bavaria-born social work graduate from the SRH University in Heidelberg, who initially signed into the military for nine months at the German Luftwaffe. This turned out to be a great experience for him as he found structure and went through a lot of personal evolution. Timo believes that once given a chance and a little support, even the worst among us have the potential to transform their lives. Currently, Timo Bornhofen is working on a non-fiction book, ‘Thoughts and Tools for Working with People’. The book got great feedback from the publisher after the first look, and Timo is looking forward to getting a contract pretty soon. 

He stressed, “I had a chance to work with a young man who abused his little sister over the years. I never looked back at his past and only put my empathy and attention towards helping him. Today, I see a charming, intelligent man, who has plans and talents, and that’s precisely the key to getting into a relationship with people and bond with them.” For Timo, coaching or therapy is impossible without a humanistic, empathic, and appreciative attitude. 

Elaborating further, Timo shed light on his ways of counselling and said, “The main methods I leverage are reinforcing, helping the clients to become authentic, accepting restrictions, and looking for the best or second best solution to make them free from their inner conflicts.” Timo prefers highlighting more philosophical topics and dives deep into the depths of his candidate’s mind. 

One thing is sure that empathy coach Timo Bornhofen is on a mission to assist people in understanding emotional and cognitive empathy while improving their lives by practising thoughtful strategies in day-to-day life!