Empathy as the Essence of Pastoral Psychotherapy

Abstract

Provides a description and a reinterpretation of the concept of empathy as originally explicated by the psychoanalyist, Heinz Kohut; and argues that empathy might well be considered as the essence of pastoral psychotherapy. Notes the qualities of the empathic response from the perspectives of psychology, ethics, and theology.

“Look at Me, but Don't!” — Revisiting the Narcissistic Dilemma in Clinical Pastoral Supervision

“…In particular, empathy and humor can shape such interventions effectively. Empathy is both a style of knowing and a style of relating (Schlauch, 1990). It provides supervisors access to experiences and data by which a student's pastoral self becomes known and integration of disowned aspects can take place.…”

Being-There-With-and-For: Contemporary Psychoanalysis Characterizes Notions of Being Religious

“…In previous writings (Schlauch 1990(Schlauch , 1995, I approached empathy as "a style of knowing and relating," through a series of dualities. Empathy involves both being connected to the other through which one understands experience "subjectively," from the inside, and at the same time being separate from the other by which one can explain experience "objectively," from the outside.…”