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Findings from the author's empirical research on the creative process in art and science are applied to psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The concept of empathy, introduced into psychoanalysis by Freud, was derived from aesthetic theory and the idea of 'feeling into' a work of art. In the context of psychotherapy, the therapist also uses a 'feeling into' function that is specifically creative in nature. Designated previously by the author as, 'homospatial process', the function consists of actively conceiving two or more discrete entities occupying the same space, a conception leading to the articulation of new identities. Responsible for the creation of metaphors and other integrations in art and science, its operation in therapy helps explain the way in which empathic knowledge is transmitted between patient and therapist.
The therapist engages in a creative homospatial process in order to gain empathic understanding of a patient. This process is not the same as simply seeing things from another's viewpoint, sympathy, or other spontaneous experiences sometimes called empathy. Empathic understanding in treatment is actively and creatively achieved in the context of a mutual creative process involving both therapist and patient. The nature and mode of transmission of this empathic knowledge is discussed in three related areas: (1) self and object representation, (2) intrapsychic operations, (3) cognition.