Hassenstab Jason, Dziobek Isabel, Rogers Kimberley, Wolf Oliver T, Convit Antonio
Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Bronx, New York, USA.
J Nerv Ment Dis. 2007 Apr;195(4):277-81. doi: 10.1097/01.nmd.0000253794.74540.2d.
There has been considerable interest in assessing whether psychotherapists have enhanced abilities in empathy and whether those abilities influence treatment outcomes. However, to date, studies have been hindered by inconsistent definitions of empathy and a reliance on assessment via self-report. The unique aim of this study was to ascertain the empathic abilities of psychotherapists using a multidimensional battery consisting of objective and self-report measures. We compared 19 therapists and 19 well-matched control subjects on several measures of empathy. On tests emphasizing the cognitive aspects of empathy, therapists were no different from controls when making inferences based on facial expressions but were significantly better when making inferences based on language. On a test emphasizing the emotional aspects of empathy, therapists did not report to be more empathically concerned than controls; however, on a test of emotion regulation, they reported less personal distress in response to the distress of others. In sum, therapists were better able to interpret the verbal cues of others and described themselves as more emotionally controlled in response to tense interpersonal situations.
评估心理治疗师是否具有更强的共情能力以及这些能力是否会影响治疗效果，这一问题引发了广泛关注。然而，迄今为止，研究受到共情定义不一致以及依赖自我报告进行评估的阻碍。本研究的独特目的是使用由客观和自我报告测量组成的多维量表来确定心理治疗师的共情能力。我们在多项共情测量指标上对19名治疗师和19名匹配良好的对照受试者进行了比较。在强调共情认知方面的测试中，治疗师在基于面部表情进行推理时与对照组没有差异，但在基于语言进行推理时明显更出色。在强调共情情感方面的测试中，治疗师报告的共情关注程度并不比对照组更高；然而，在情绪调节测试中，他们报告在面对他人的痛苦时个人痛苦较少。总之，治疗师能够更好地解读他人的言语线索，并表示在面对紧张的人际情境时情绪更易控制。
