Episodic simulation – i.e., the ability to imagine a specific situation in details using episodic memory (Schacter et al., 2008) – is known to contribute to empathic responses. Past research has shown that episodic simulation heightens affective empathy, however, affective empathy encompasses distinct subtypes – personal distress and empathic concern – that could be differently linked to episodic simulation. The current study addressed this knowledge gap by looking at the impact of forming episodic simulation (e.g., a dog running away) on empathic responding, focusing specifically on personal distress and empathic concern. Using Prolific, we presented participants (N=199) with four empathy-provoking situations (e.g., a dog is lost). Half of the participants were asked to imagine the scenario in details and type what they thought about for two minutes; the other half engaged in a control task for the same amount of time. Following each scenario, all participants completed ratings of empathic concern and personal distress responses. The typed scenarios were scored for episodic content using the Autobiographical Interview scoring protocol (Levine et al., 2002). A mixed ANOVA showed heightened personal distress and reduced empathic concern for individuals who simulated the story compared to individuals who did not simulate (F(1,159) = 104.730, p < .001, η2p = 0.397). Further, a series of Partial Pearson’s correlations revealed that episodic content within the descriptions were positively correlated with personal distress (r = 0.199, p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with empathic concern (r = –0.133, p = 0.010), supporting the link between episodic memory and empathic responses. Together, these novel findings demonstrate that episodic simulation, via recruiting episodic memory processes, selectively targets the personal distress component of affective empathy.