Beyond Empathy: Confronting Certain Complexities in Self Psychology Theory

Abstract

Empathy is often a poorly understood concept. While some feel its value to psychoanalysis cannot be overstated, others feel it has been overemphasized as has the value of properly managing empathic failures that arise during an analysis. This paper will attempt to (1) demonstrate how patients sometimes resist empathy and erect barriers to being understood; (2) illustrate how empathy may sometimes be unachievable due to the difficulties encountered when one tries to empathize with the various aspects of another's experience that are in conflict with one another; and (3) propose that analysts may need to go beyond the common definition of empathy in order to help patients question and discard certain cherished beliefs they hold about themselves.

The Contours of Identity: Relational Dynamics in the Psychotherapy of Long-Term Mental Illness

“…Empathic identification is essential in the treatment of major psychiatric disorders yet maintaining such a stance amid pronounced feelings of distance and ineffectiveness proves a perilous balancing act (Benjamin 2009;Tuch 1997). Its exceptional difficulty only serves to underline its importance.…”

Concern and Empathy: Two Concepts or One?

“…Similarly, Rowe and MacIsaacs (1991) defi ned empathy as the " analyst ' s attempt to experience as closely as possible what the patient is experiencing " (p. 16). According to Tuch (1997) , " Empathy describes the methods by which one comes to know how and why others feel as they do " (p. 263). In exploring the concept from an intersubjective perspective, Trop and Stolorow (1997) argued that empathy is a " distinctive investigatory stance " (p. 281).…”

“…In addition to Mitchell, whom I quoted at the beginning, we can cite Levy (1985) , who distinguished between empathy, sympathy, and pity, and emphasizes the value-neutral character of empathy. Tuch (1997) claimed that the defi nition of empathy does not include how one relates to others. According to him, the term empathic failure is often equated with ruthless interventions or those that are meant to hurt.…”

Depressive Rumination in an Analysand after a Traumatic Treatment

“…He also notes, "For some, finding the source of living within the private self is literally life preserving" (p. 733). Thus, the analysand may hide the real self and present a false self out of fear; as Tuch (1997) notes, "Some patients dread being understood. For them to be understood may mean to be destroyed, devalued, unmasked" (p. 269).…”