You can listen to a friend’s storm without letting it rain inside your house.

Being close to someone in a hard time does not require taking on their state. Absorbing it feels like loyalty and usually makes you less useful, because a person who has gone under with them cannot offer the steadiness that was the point of being there. Empathy is understanding what someone feels rather than joining them in it.

Stay present and interested without matching the intensity. After a heavy conversation, do something that returns you to your own condition. You can care about someone completely and still go home dry.