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Originally Posted by Echos Myron
Actually, on my course there is huge emphasis on attachment theory and its impact on the client. It's hardly sweeping over the concepts, we have undergone in-depth experiential workshops examining our own attachment styles and their impact on our work as well as a focus on attachment and MI.
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You are in the UK, right? That may explain the difference.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Echos Myron
I agree that relying on personal experience alone is dangerous, but personal experience to inform empathy is useful to say the least.
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Absolutely. I never argued that. If you read my post carefully you'll see me say that personal experience is crucial in understanding somatic nature or trauma, where by "understanding" I certainly meant empathy because empathy IS understanding through feeling what the other person is feeling.
It's important, however, to know the difference between empathy and projective identification, a useful concept from psychoanalysis that suggests that oftentimes we may believe that we are feeling the other person's pain and experiencing genuine empathy when, in fact, we are feeling our own pain. This happens when we mistakenly believe that the other person's traumatic experience is identical to what ours has been when this may not be so. In this case, we are not really feeling empathy, we are simply projecting our own pain on the other person. It's called projective identification and it's very often confused with empathy. You may recall situations in which you tried to be supportive and empathetic and to let someone know that you understand what they are going through only to hear from them that you are wrong and that their experience is totally different. Don't you feel like an idiot when that happens?
I do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Echos Myron
My T suggested my past will be 'simultaneously one of my greatest strengths and most significant vulnerabilities' as a practitioner, and I agree completely, so it is my duty to keep that in my awareness.
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No disagreement here, again, depending on how you use your past experiences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Echos Myron
In my experience of working with therapists, I have found more experienced Ts more beneficial, however it stands to reason that that's not a universal truth, and the individual is a crucial factor in what makes a competent therapist.
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I've only worked with those who had 20+ years of experience, and IMHO they still had so much to learn...