How Empathy Helps Us Experience Love Deeply, with Drs. Bill & Kristi Gaultiere

Listen to this episode from Typology on Spotify. What if the real key to spiritual transformation isn’t trying harder—but receiving love more deeply? In this heartfelt conversation, I sit down once again with Drs. Bill and Kristi Gaultiere—spiritual directors, therapists, and founders of Soul Shepherding—to explore what it means to truly receive and reflect God’s empathy. Drawing from their new book, Deeply Loved, the Gaultieres invite us to consider a radical truth: that spiritual transformation begins not with striving or self-critique, but with allowing ourselves to be seen, known, and loved—just as we are. Together, we unpack how shame, unconscious resistance, and old emotional wounds can block us from receiving love—from God, from others, and even from ourselves. Through vulnerable stories and spiritual wisdom, Bill and Kristi reveal how empathy heals the deepest fractures in our souls, allowing us to move from performance and perfectionism into grace-filled presence. We explore: Why self-empathy is essential to emotional and spiritual health. How each Enneagram type misses empathy in distinct ways. The difference between tactical and transformational empathy. How empathy, truth, and responsibility work together to produce growth. What it looks like to experience God’s empathy even in suffering and loss.