Psychologists really need to empathise. I follow this psychiatry podcast (that's also continued medical education for docs). https://www.psychiatrypodcast.com/

Psychologists really need to empathise. I follow this psychiatry podcast (that's also continued medical education for docs). https://www.psychiatrypodcast.com/psychiatry-psychotherapy-podcast/therapeutic-alliance-part-1 https://www.psychiatrypodcast.com/psychiatry-psychotherapy-p... Have a read. A large part of performance seems to be from the ability to gain an alliance with the patient, a component of which is empathy. >Being skillful at detaching from your own emotional response would seem to me to be a useful skill for such an occupation. Possibly to some extent. Psych professionals often talk about 'countertransference', basically how the patient affected you emotionally, and how to use that clinically. If you didn't feel anything, you might not be able to use this useful cue. And one other mantra I keep hearing from the psychiatrists are, "Find one thing you like about the patient and focus on that" (especially in regards to hateful, angry patients) It's going to be hard to help someone you can't empathise with for being angry and build an alliance. edit: Psychologist/psychiatrist I flick between terms. I just mean any mental health professional that engage with a patient. Particularly for talk therapy. edit edit: It's not like she's barred from being one. It just would be a big disadvantage (unless she deals with psychopaths who famously don't respond to anything)