Model of an Individual: An Empathic Way of Knowing in the Counseling Process

ABSTRACT In the 1960s, Ralph Greenson conceptualized a model of a patient to consolidate empathy‐based knowledge relating to a person. While the framework showed promise for clinical utility, it proved unwieldy and difficult to apply in psychoanalytic practice. Seeking to revise Greenson's creative work, a model of an individual updates and broadens the scope of his original formulation. The conceptual structure involves multiple perspectives of empathy curated from contemporary and classic literature in counseling and related fields of inquiry. Navigating among subjective, objective, and interpersonal empathy modalities, a counselor engages an empathic use of self in formulating a mental representation of a client. This awareness of an increasingly refined and nuanced way of knowing an individual bridges empathy with a wide range of therapeutic skills in the counseling process.