SOWK 3060 Lecture 14: Empathy and Discomfort
Document Summary
This week"s readings have been interestingly about the helpfulness and torture with the interaction between a professional worker and a client. These readings touch on last week"s as well. First of all, political repression in general and torture in particular attempts to create alienation. So, to think carefully about our inclinations to be helpful is very helpful and helpfulness may be a very natural and human response as part of a real relationship. However, it can easily be negatively used when we use another"s need and vulnerability in order to fulfil our own need to be helpful and to feel good about ourselves. Therefore, this is where torture comes to play towards clients. Furthermore, winnicott"s concept of holding is rooted in the physical relationship of caregiver and infant. The infant feels secure or not in its caregiver"s arms.
