Embodied empathy – clinical and developmental perspectives in psychoanalysis
pp. 49-91
in: Vanessa Lux, Sigrid Weigel (eds), Empathy, Berlin, Springer, 2017Abstract
In the clinical psychoanalytical context, empathy is no longer understood as personality trait of the analyst ("one-person-psychology") but as phenomenon which takes place in the exchange between analyst and analysand ("two-person-psychology"). A similar theoretical perspective characterizes the development of the self, attachment, and the ability to mentalize. In this chapter, Leuzinger-Bohleber discusses contemporary attempts to further develop the psychoanalytical understanding of empathy based on insights gained from the interdisciplinary dialogue with embodied cognitive science. The so-called embodied revolution not only implicates radical changes in the conceptualization of empathy in the clinical psychoanalytical situation. We also need to modify our understanding of memory, transference-countertransference as well as therapeutic transformations. Finally, the author illustrates her considerations by a clinical example.