Projective Identification and Countertransference Turmoil: Disruptions in the Empathic Process

EMPATHY ON THE PART OF A THERAPIST for his patient is universally regarded as indispensable for useful psychoanalytic therapy to occur. Although there are differences in definitions of empathy, the capacity to empathize receives a very high priority in the selection process of therapist training programs across disciplines, thus attesting to its significance. The absence of empathy is often mentioned in assessments of stormy countertransference developments. This paper examines disruptions in the empathic process, with special emphasis upon the phenomenon of projective identification. In so doing, we build upon a previous contribution (Tansey and Burke, 1985) which elucidated the relationship between empathy in the therapist and projective identification from the patient. In attempting to clarify the varieties of empathic disruption, we shall address the question of whether empathy is teachable in the training of psychoanalytic therapists.

As a consequence of variability within the literature, our definitions of empathy and projective identification must be specified. We will then review the conclusions of our earlier companion paper, as well as the relevant literature on empathic disruptions, before coming to the main body of our current thesis. We view empathy as a clinical phenomenon characterized by two primary components which unfold with varying degrees of awareness either gradually over many sessions or, more commonly, in what seems like an immediate "flash." The initial component involves what Fliess (1942) refers to as the therapist's "trial identification" with his patient. The traditional view of empathy generally limits the