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Project

Existential empathy: An identifiable therapist variable contributing to therapy outcome

Existential concerns such as death anxiety and meaninglessness have been identified as trans-diagnostic factors of different psychological problems (eg. Bruggen van et al., 2014). However, therapists often don’t feel equipped to deal with the existential issues of their clients (Hill, 2017; Lundvall et al., 2018). Our project explores whether existential empathy contributes to therapy outcome and can be identified as a variable that distinguishes successful from less successful therapists concerning existential issues. Existential empathy refers to the capacity of the therapist to resonate and be present with the client’s existential concerns (Vanhooren, 2019). In our project we (1) analyze qualitatively whether therapists differ in their lived experience of existential empathy and how this influences their interventions in therapy (process recall study), (2) we study if existential empathy is associated with change in therapy outcome and could be identified as a therapist effect (multilevel model study), and (3) if therapy training has an effect on existential empathy and which aspects of this training are experienced as effective (mixed-method study). As a result, trainings in clinical psychology, psychotherapy, and counseling can be adjusted to foster existential empathy in their trainees, who will be more equipped to deal with the existential concerns of their clients.

Date:1 Oct 2021 →  Today
Keywords:Empathy, Psychotherapy, Existential, Psychotherapy training
Disciplines:Counselling psychology, Psychotherapy
Project type:PhD project