From Detached Concern to Empathy

Physicians recognise the importance of patients' emotions in healing, yet believe their own emotional responses represent lapses in objectivity. Patients complain that physicians are too detached. The book argues that by empathising with patients, rather than detaching, physicians can best help them. Yet there is no consistent view of what, precisely, clinical empathy involves. This book challenges the traditional assumption that empathy is either purely intellectual or an expression of sympathy.