L'empathie et ses dérives

Abstract

After a brief allusion to the points common to a number of different analysts who refer to the notion of empathy, the author underlines the frequent mistakes to which the far too exclusive value given to this phenomenon gives rise, its roots reaching deep into the unconscious. In order to avoid these deviations, protective measures are envisaged. They all aim to guarantee an authentic analytic attitude. With this objective, the author evokes the framework and different relational modalities occurring in the treatment and underlines the need for an optimal equilibrium between masculine and feminine positions of the counter-transference. © Presses Universitaires de France.