Abstract

Empathy as an intersubjective process is often confused with sympathy, pity, identification and self-transposal. This thesis describes empathy as a unique phenomenon, distinguishable from other intersubjective process by the fact that it takes place pre-reflectively, it unfolds in three overlapping stages and the second stage is characterized by a crossing over of the self into the frame of reference of the other, a special form of alignment of the experiencing selves of two people. ;Empathy is considered by examining phenomenologically the human experiences that contribute to the very possibility of empathy--that is, people experience the world through perception, people reflect on their experiences, people imagine as a continuation of their perception, people are habitual meaning makers of their experiences and, finally, people are drawn to a connectedness. ;The lived world of the physical therapist serves as the experiencing framework within which a phenomenological description of empathy takes shape and form. Nine physical therapists were interviewed about their personal experience of empathy as it occurred within the context of relationship with their patients. Empathy was described as taking place in three different levels of encounter, each level characterized by a momentary crossing over into the lived experience of the other. This moment was perceived as a shift from a primarily cognitive to a primarly affective moment, as if a blow to the stomach occurred. This description enlightens the work of Edith Stein who wrote a phenomenology of empathy that is not well known. ;Empathy was described as a merging of the whole of one person with the whole of the other in a moment of shared meaning. In this way, empathy was viewed as aesthetic experience facilitative to healing by helping to integrate the fragmented disjointedness of the self in illness. The therapist as healer is seen as the embodyment of wellness. When ill persons empathize with the healer, the healer becomes their advocate and represents the possibility of wellness and hope. Empathy unlike self-transposal, was seen as involuntary, "happening to one", whereas self-transposal was described as the deliberate cognitive effort to understand the other. Empathy is facilitated by a mature, self-confident awareness of self and a sincere interest in relating to others as unique persons, whereas stress and preoccupation with self inhibit spontaneous empathy