title: The language of empathy: an analysis of its constitution, development, and role in psychoanalytic listening.
abstract: Viewed from an epistemological perspective, empathy in psychoanalytic practice is described as that aspect of a specialized attentional stance that opens channels of interaction facilitating the formation of a trusting bond and enabling one to gain access to the emotional qualities of another's experience. A literature overview traces the origins of the concept in Freud and its role in psychoanalytic listening (including its controversial, divisive evolution in our field). Empathy is then examined from a semiotic-developmental framework. Its constitutional origins, differentiated forms, and distinctive purpose in clinical discourse are discussed. A developmental line is proposed, and clear distinctions are drawn between empathy in everyday life and its specialized technical application in clinical work.
authors.affiliation: Annaragno@earthlink.net
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aragno
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D003142:Communication; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D004645:Empathy; D005619:Freudian Theory; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D008251:Macaca; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy