Mobilizing Fundamental Modes of Development: Empathic Availability and Therapeutic Action
- 1 December 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association
- Vol. 38 (4), 881-913
- https://doi.org/10.1177/000306519003800402
Abstract
A positive developmental thrust becomes mobilized by virtue of therapeutic action. This thrust is specified in terms of a set of fundamental modes of development that are biologically prepared and have been identified through recent research. The modes are first apparent in infancy and continue throughout life. The setting conditions which allow for the fundamental modes of development to be reactivated are provided by the therapeutic relationship. It is hypothesized that the empathic availability of the therapist enables these modes to operate as powerful background influences. Developmental aspects of empathy and of availability highlight the importance of adult regulatory functions and the construction of shared meaning.Keywords
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