Co-experiencing as a Key Category of Co-experiencing Psychotherapy

Abstract

There are three ethical reactions on the misfortune of other person: compassion, advice, practical help (M.M. Bakhtin). The foundation of all these forms of common- sense psychological support is in humane co-experiencing. Professional psychother- apy should take into account its cultural-historical soil that makes the category of co-experiencing significant for all therapeutic schools. In this article the place and the meaning of the category of co-experiencing in co-experiencing psychotherapy is considered. Co-experiencing is a constitutive category for the approach and is regarded as an internal creative work of the therapist, which is aimed at facilitat- ing the productive way of patient’s development of experiencing. Goals, subject and method of co-experiencing are being characterized. An analysis of links between categories of “co-experiencing” and “understanding” are given. A phenomena of “co-experiencing understanding” is being described.

Keywords

• co-experiencing
• empathy
• consolation
• understanding
• culture of mental activity
• co-experiencing psychotherapy
• “co-experiencing understanding” phenomena