On Empathy 1

This article, a reprint of the transcript of Heinz Kohut's last public address, is Kohut's final attempt to clarify the role of empathy in psychoanalysis. Kohut defines empathy as a method of psychoanalytic investigation, and then explores the ways in which empathy itself can be a therapeutic response. He describes how empathy's role has been misinterpreted and misunderstood, and he describes the various forms in which empathic understanding may be communicated to the patient.