Empathy, intersubjective communication and clinical psychiatry

Empathy is a psychological concept introduced from the field of Esthetics ( Lipps, 1851-1913). Subjectivity and mental functionning in patients have been described with p henomenological concepts based on the combined use of empathy and eidetic r eduction methodology in a comprehensive psychiatry perspective. We emphasize the role and consider the various arguments in favour of a per ceptive theory versus nit inferential theory of empathy, differenciating th is special capacity for emotional communication from psychological mechanis ms like identification or merging. These two models could be considered as two aspects of a specific behaviora l pattern for tuning affective relation in humans, developped from the earl y mother-child interactions as described by D. Stern with his concept of af fective attunement. We introduce the concept of "co-mentation" and give some views on the inter esting use of empathy as a relational tool for a better objectivation of in trasubjective and intel subjective clinical data in evaluation, classificat ion, and therapy in psychiatry.