How can I effectively empathize with people who have had different traumatic experiences than me?

I find that breaking things down into more basic emotions helps. So maybe you have never been in, say, a car crash. However, you might be able to relate with feeling "scared" or "hurt". You may have never had your sister steal your boyfriend, but you can possibly relate to feelings like"betrayed" or "unwanted". You may have never been exiled in a mountain shack, but you have likely felt "lonely". Hope that helps!

Try to do research, and ask them what the best way you can help them. If they are suffering greatly, refer them to a therapist or doctor

We are all different but at the time we're all alike. We all sense pain, and happiness and worry and fear. So we can empathize with others who have these feelings.

When it comes to empathizing with other people, it's simply having the ability to understand that this person has suffered in life, rather than the specific thing they have gone through. Effective empathizing is possible through having the ability to understand the pain of another person - and although you may have had different traumatic experiences, you have both gone through something that has caused you trauma as a whole. In the end, what is important is that you find something that you have both got in common such as having trauma and then being empathetic because you both know what it's like to be traumatized.