Empathic understanding revisited: conceptualization, controversies, and limitations.
Regardless of the controversial philosophical aspects of understanding another human being, it is a useful concept in psychotherapy because understanding of the patient is one of the factors determining the course of therapy. Understanding resulting from empathy refers to the perception of the patient's innermost feelings and meanings, but inevitably represents only an approximation of what the patient truly experiences. It crucially depends on the vicissitudes of interactions between the patient and the therapist. The accuracy of empathic understanding needs to be verified continuously. It is important for therapists to learn to recognize what constitutes their own projection in their understanding of patients. Empathic understanding usually entails an attempt on the part of the therapist to feel to a certain extent the way the patient does. Various degrees of empathic emotional involvement may be suitable for patients with different types of psychopathology. Therapists must be careful as to how they convey their understanding to their patients. Not every patient wants to be understood, many are afraid of being understood, and some are distressed by the therapists' demonstration of understanding. Therefore, knowing what to do with the understanding one has achieved becomes an important therapeutic task.
Starcevic
V
V
Belgrade University School of Medicine, Institute of Mental Health, Yugoslavia.
Piontek
C M
CM
D004644:Emotions; D004645:Empathy; D006801:Humans; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011385:Projection; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*