An Intersubjective Mentalization-Based Primer

Empathy as Competence

Johann Steinberger

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040435687
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Psychotherapy
• Index: Psychology

This book explores how Affect Resonance Training (ART), as developed by the Viennese psychotherapist Johann Steinberger, offers students and trainees in psychosocial professions the opportunity to develop competence in empathy, allowing them to better understand themselves and others.

Based on concepts of empathy, resonance and mentalization, this innovative mode of teaching offers effective tools and training for empathetic understanding. This book presents clear instructions for its application in the classroom, summarizing several years of intensive institutional practice. The book also outlines the program's rich theoretical background and documents its empirical effectiveness.

With clear instruction on the use of ART and clinical insights on how increased empathy is effective in therapeutic settings, this book is essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, and others across the psychosocial professions.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Historical Roots and Development of Infant Observation
• 3. Introduction to Mentalization
• 4. The Development of the Relational Tradition in Psychoanalysis
• 5. Empathy – Affect – Understanding
• 6. Affect-Reflective Competencies – Developments in Empathy Training – Evaluation
• 7. ART II – Observation, Didactics, Mentalization
• 8. ART III – Supervision in the Group
• 9. Methodological Approach
• 10. Evaluation of Observation Reports
• 11. Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index