Toward a more empathic relationship in pain medicine.

Full Abstract

Specialists in pain medicine commonly experience psychological assaults on their self-esteem, especially from patients who seem unreasonably demanding, overly critical, or threatening. This article will discuss how these challenges can trigger a professional's self-protective and defensive coping mechanisms that, in turn, can provoke decidedly unempathic responses. Situations that compromise empathy, however, can be particularly worrisome in health delivery practices like pain medicine that are highly relational and that seek to use relationships therapeutically. The article will therefore conclude with two sets of strategies that might be useful in managing these uncomfortable situations more empathically. The first set will focus on certain pragmatics of empathy skill development. The second will discuss the Eastern notion of "bare attention" as an ideal form of empathic engagement that can also counteract an unhealthy degree of defensiveness when self-esteem is threatened.

Author information

Author/s: Banja, John D (JD);

Affiliation: Emory University, The Center for Ethics, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA. jbanja(-atsign-)emory.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) (Pain Med), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Nov; vol 9 (issue 8) : pp 1125-9

Dates: Created 2008/12/10; Completed 2009/02/12;

PMID: 18565006, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.