Empathic Attunement

Book excerpt: Empathic Attunement captures the essence of Kohut's contributions to self psychology and the mental health field. Straightforward, accurate, and practical, the authors introduce student and experienced clinician alike to the synthesis of Kohut's major concepts and their clinical applications. The authors highlight Kohut's emphasis on the empathic mode of data gathering from within the patient's experiences. Kohut considers empathy—the capacity to think and feel oneself into the inner life of another person—to be the major tool of therapy.