The Many Faces of Empathy in Experiential, Person-Centered, Collaborative Assessment

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.

Acknowledgment

An earlier version of this article was presented March 9, 2007 at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality Assessment, Arlington, Virginia as part of a symposium “The Heart of Assessment: Celebrating the Work of Paul M. Lerner,” F. Barton Evans (Chair).