Beyond Empathy: A Therapy of Contact-in Relationships

by Richard G. Erskine

In this book, the authors focus on the importance of relationship in psychotherapy. Relationships between people form the basis of our daily lives. We require this contact with others, the sense of respect and value it produces, the relational needs it fulfills. As we face the inevitable traumas of life, large and small, our ability to make full contact with others is often disrupted. As this reduction in contact increases, relational needs go unfulfilled, producing psychological dysfunction. Beyond Empathy offers therapists a methodology for assisting people in rediscovering their ability to maintain genuine, contactful relationships and thus, better psychological health.

The authors describe an integrative psychotherapy approach that they have developed and now teach at the Institute for Integrative Psychotherapy in New York City. It draws from Rogers' client-centered therapy, Berne's transactional analysis, Perls' Gestalt therapy, Kohut's self psychology, and the work of British object-relations theorists. Written in a conversational style, the book introduces the theory behind the approach while using real life interchanges between therapists and clients to illustrate the concepts it presents. The second part of the book details the application of this method in therapy work and provides almost complete transcripts from seven therapy sessions. These include examples of psychotherapeutic regression, working with a parental introject, couples psychotherapy, and more.

The open writing style of this book makes it accessible to both beginners and seasoned practitioners within the field of mental health. This versatile approach to therapy promises to be effective across a wide range of therapeutic situations, making this a valuable book for both students and practicing clinicians throughout the spectrum of mental healthcare providers.

Genres: Psychology, Counselling

400 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[Gala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Якби я зустріла цю книгу 10 років тому, то читала б її у в ліжку, і в ванній, доки не вивчила на пам'ять. Та й тепер вона кльова і я її перечитуватиму. Я дуже раджу її спеціалістам, в ній детально пояснено з чого складаються психотерапевтичні відносини і як вони працюють (як їх будувати та як працювати). Теорія проілюстрована розгорнутими транскриптами, транскрипти детально теоретично обгрунтовані. І що важливо - весь текст пронизаний глибокою повагою до людей, до читача та до клієнтів як авторів, так і читачевих.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assigned as summer read for level 4 diploma. Half as pleasurable as it is useful.

We were offered a choice of three books to read over summer halfway through level 4 studies and patently warned that this book was going to be a rather dull read. My tutors admitted that even they struggled to get past first chapter. And they tapped into my competitive stubborn side (which I’m not too proud to admit) so I picked Beyond Empathy.
The book is written in a relatively accessible language. Compared to seminal works of Laing, Rogers or Spinelli, it’s unencumbered with flowery “academese”. And yet I must admit it was a dense read. Repetitive at times and perhaps best used as a reference book instead of a cover-to-cover read, it does nevertheless a great job of breaking down and rebuilding the idea of integrative approach.
It’s a slow burner for sure and if I could offer an analogy to reading it I would go with something like seeing an epic film by Mel Gibson (think Passion of Christ and Apocalypto). Am I glad I saw them? Yes, absolutely! Am I in a rush to view the again? Perhaps not.
This book has been incredibly useful to my understanding of the delicate interplay of different modalities but the only thing that pushed me to read it was the looming deadline and my own bloody mindedness. I hope to refer to it again when I’m qualified as I am sure it will reveal more of itself with each and every time.

[Clare Tissiman connolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm sure I will refer to this book often in the future it is easy to understand and give clear advice and ideas.