Empathy in the Doctor Patient Relationship

As a psychology major and as someone who is interested in clinical practice, empathy within the therapeutic relationship is often discussed as an essential aspect of the healing process for patients. However, very little is discussed about the actual neuroscience of empathy. What I found most enlightening about Decety’s talk was the possible evidence that empathy could be an important part of the doctor-patient relationship. In one of his studies, Decety found that physicians activate different brain areas, specifically the medial pre-frontal cortex when seeing others in possible painful situations instead of the usual pain network activation seen in non-physicians. Suggesting that because of physician training and their line of work that they may be less empathetic towards others pain. Traditionally, those in the medical profession have been taught to 'turn off' their empathy, and that to be a good doctor they must remain stoic. However, Decety discussed that showing more empathy towards patients could be extremely helpful, having more empathy may allow doctors to better estimate the pain of others, have a better rapport with their patients and be more attune towards emotional information that patients do not always vocally express within the relationship. Although there is a necessity for doctors to ‘turn off’ some of their empathy given the strains of the profession, emphasizing more skills to develop empathy within the doctor-patient relationship would be useful.