Therapist’s humanization of the patient: Promoting and interfering factors
Therapist’s humanization of the patient: Promoting and interfering factors

Summary/Abstract: The dynamic development of research focusing on effective elements in psychotherapy has revealed not only which therapeutic techniques are particularly effective in treating specific disor-ders, but also which elements of the therapeutic relationship make psychotherapy work. The latter include therapeutic alliance and therapist’s empathy. Both of these concepts are complex, multidimensional constructs; they seem to share one crucial element – the humanization (mentalization) of the client: the fact that the therapist ascribes psychological depth and agency to his/her patient. In this context, we formulate a question concerning the factors that might facilitate or interfere with this kind of therapist’s attitude. We look for an answer to this question not only in the literature on psychotherapy but also in the area of social psychology. Taking into consideration the conclusions derived from both research domains, we formulate recommendations for clinical practice intended to humanize the relationship between the therapist and his/her client. We also formulate research questions aimed at empirical verification of the recommendations.

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