Empathy & Doctors of Pakistan.

Abstract

The term empathy originates from the German word
Einfühlung and was first used by Robert Vischer in
1873 to describe the projection of human feeling on to
the natural world1. Empathy ‘explains how we discover
that other people have selves’2. Psychologist Carl
Rogers has popularised it. He focused on clienttherapist relationship rather than the process of therapy itself; placing the client at the centre3. This influenced the concept of patient-centred care.
Self-concept is influenced by others’ attitudes, especially during formative years. A negative self-concept
arises from a highly critical environment, which distances the individual from their ‘organismic self’. This
causes confusion and ultimately results in the individual living out their lives by an external rather than internal locus of evaluation3. This means that the individual
does what they believe others would want them to do
rather than following their own desires1. Empathy is
often described with congruence (being genuine and
transparent) and unconditional positive regard (being
non-judgemental)3.