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The many faces of empathy in experiential, person-centered, collaborative assessment
1Center for Therapeutic Assessment, Austin, Texas, USA. sefinn@mail.utexas.edu
Abstract:
Paul Lerner was an amazing clinician and teacher, and he wrote that empathy was the "heart" of his particular approach to psychological assessment. In this article, I discuss 3 meanings of empathy: (a) as an information-gathering tool, (b) as an interpersonal process, and (c) as a healing element in human interactions. I then demonstrate how each of these meanings of empathy is exemplified in Lerner's written work and in collaborative and therapeutic assessment.
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