Own Sense Of Identity Research Articles

Empathy: Its Nature and Uses.

Empathy: Its Nature and Uses. By Robert L. Katz. Price, $4.95. Pp 210. The Free Press of Glencoe, a Division of the Macmillan Company, 60 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10011, 1963. Dr. Robert Katz is to be commended for his courage in undertaking to deal with so elusive a concept as empathy, attempting to translate it into practical application. Though it be a valient attempt, the quality of empathy escapes explicitness. At times the idea is lucidly explained, and these passages have value, but then the author muddles it up with additional statements that con¬ fuse the presentation. Adhering to Theodor Reik's four phases in the empathie process, Dr. Katz adequately presents what takes place. We identify empathically, he writes, when our entire consciousness is projected into another person so the feelings that inhere in others act upon us. Not content with this statement, he elaborates that identification, which is the first phase, is an indulgence in fantasy which makes the empathizer lose his self-awareness. This, he maintains, is essential if one is to become engaged in an experience of another. One must question whether identification entails losing self-consciousness. The author him¬ self is not sure of it because he qualifies the statement, saying that the empathizer is never com¬ pletely in the power of the tide but retains the power to recover his own sense of identity. If the therapist does indulge in fantasy—if he is play acting in the role of another—how can he come to understand the patient when he himself is out of contact with reality? In the final phase, the author continues, the empathizer withdraws from subjective involve¬ ment and utilizes reason and scrutiny. At that moment, he breaks identification and is prepared for objective analysis. The counselor shifts from a subjective state to an objective state. His conclusions, then, are based on material subjectively acquired, which leave them open to question. Although the author states that the major focus of his study is empathy in the counselor or therapist and its application in human relations, he spends almost half the number of pages on theory· This is regrettable, since he is most interesting in the illustrations he presents. Citing more