Process of interpersonal empathy: a proposed framework of empathy competence in psychotherapies

Empathy is a foundational construct in person-centered psychotherapies because it promotes clients’ self-exploration and growth. However, as the construct of empathy drew attention from various disciplines, the definitions of empathy became ambiguous. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to articulate the conceptual understanding of empathy competence for the specific discipline of the counseling profession. I review the development of the conceptualization of empathy in the counseling literature and propose a theoretical framework, Process of Interpersonal Empathy (PIE), in the hope of providing a consistent definition to address counselors’ empathy competence. The PIE illustrates counselors’ empathy competence as a collection of multidimensional ingredients functioning in a process with active engagement by both the counselor and the client. The ingredients of the PIE include conceptualization, emotional awareness, and interpersonal empathy. Additionally, I discuss how each ingredient plays a role in counseling relationships. The formation of the PIE provides several implications for counseling researchers, counselor educators, and supervisors.