Empathic Attunement - by Crayton Rowe & David Mac Isaac (Paperback)

About the Book

Empathic Attunement captures the essence of Kohut's contributions to self psychology and the mental health field. Straightforward, accurate, and practical, the authors introduce student and experienced clinician alike to the synthesis of Kohut's major concepts and their clinic...

Book Synopsis

Empathic Attunement captures the essence of Kohut's contributions to self psychology and the mental health field. Straightforward, accurate, and practical, the authors introduce student and experienced clinician alike to the synthesis of Kohut's major concepts and their clinical applications. The authors highlight Kohut's emphasis on the empathic mode of data gathering from within the patient's experiences. Kohut considers empathy-the capacity to think and feel oneself into the inner life of another person-to be the major tool of therapy.

Review Quotes

Empathic Attunement carefully leads the reader from the earliest of Kohut's observations through the newly developing theory and into detailed case reports. . . . At the same time, the thoughts of the treating clinician provide a running commentary that is invaluable in demonstrating the constant and fertile interplay between theory and practice, or, in Kohutian terms, between understanding and explaining. In an admirably self-revealing manner that does not hide countertransferences, the authors invite the reader to learn by empathic participation. This is a book that will appeal to beginners and to experienced practitioners alike. It can be recommended to all.

The authors take beginners by the hand and walk them through the details of the contributions of Heinz Kohut in a simple, direct, masterly, and easy-to-follow fashion. They have digested Kohut's work, made it their own, and through their clinical examples, sensitively bring their readers step by step inside their clinical experiences. They share this in an open, sound, and pedagogically appealing fashion. They are as empathic with their readers as they are with their patients-a most felicitous combination.

About the Author

Crayton E. Rowe, Jr. is a member and training analyst for The New York Freudian Society and the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. He is a founding member of the New York Institute for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology. Dr. Rowe is the founder and past chair of the National Membership Committee on Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work and member of the International Psychoanalytical Association. Dr. Rowe is a clinical supervisor at the University Settlement Consultation Center and maintains a private practice in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy in New York City. David S. Mac Isaac is a section one member of the Division of Psychoanalysis of the American Psychological Association. He is a board member of the Institute for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy of New Jersey and a founding member of the New York Institute for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology. He maintains a private practice in psychotherapy and psychoanalysis in Englewood, New Jersey.