Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 43-49 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Psychotherapy |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2011 |
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Keywords
- empathy
- psychotherapy
- therapy relationship
- Carl Rogers
- meta-analysis
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Empathy. / Elliott, Robert; Bohart, Arthur C.; Watson, Jeanne C.; Greenberg, Leslie S.
In: Psychotherapy, Vol. 48, No. 1, 2011, p. 43-49.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Empathy
AU - Elliott, Robert
AU - Bohart, Arthur C.
AU - Watson, Jeanne C.
AU - Greenberg, Leslie S.
N1 - This article is adapted, by special permission of Oxford University Press, from a chapter of the same title by the same authors in J. C. Norcross (Ed.), 2011, Psychotherapy relationships that work (2nd edition). New York: Oxford University Press. The book project was co-sponsored by the APA Division of Psychotherapy.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - After defining empathy, discussing its measurement, and offering an example of empathy in practice, we present the results of an updated meta-analysis of the relation between empathy and psychotherapy outcome. Results indicated that empathy is a moderately strong predictor of therapy outcome: mean weighted r = .31 ( p < .001; 95% confidence interval: .28 –.34), for 59 independent samples and 3599 clients. Although the empathy-outcome relation held equally for different theoretical orientations, there was considerable nonrandom variability. Client and observer perceptions of therapist empathy predicted outcomes better than therapist perceptions of empathic accuracy measures, and the relation was strongest for less experienced therapists. We conclude with practice recommendations, including endorsing the different forms that empathy may take in therapy.
AB - After defining empathy, discussing its measurement, and offering an example of empathy in practice, we present the results of an updated meta-analysis of the relation between empathy and psychotherapy outcome. Results indicated that empathy is a moderately strong predictor of therapy outcome: mean weighted r = .31 ( p < .001; 95% confidence interval: .28 –.34), for 59 independent samples and 3599 clients. Although the empathy-outcome relation held equally for different theoretical orientations, there was considerable nonrandom variability. Client and observer perceptions of therapist empathy predicted outcomes better than therapist perceptions of empathic accuracy measures, and the relation was strongest for less experienced therapists. We conclude with practice recommendations, including endorsing the different forms that empathy may take in therapy.
KW - empathy
KW - psychotherapy
KW - therapy relationship
KW - Carl Rogers
KW - meta-analysis
UR - http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/pst/index.aspx
U2 - 10.1037/a0022187
DO - 10.1037/a0022187
M3 - Article
VL - 48
SP - 43
EP - 49
JO - Psychotherapy
JF - Psychotherapy
SN - 0033-3204
IS - 1
ER -