Over the years when practicing as a clinical psychologist, I encountered a number of people diagnosed as “psychopaths.” With respect to empathy, empathy requires that one be connected to one’s heart: people with high empathy tend to act from the heart rather than head, the latter being encouraged in Western cultures. Some psychopaths are born without the capacity to connect to their hearts, and their prognosis is poor. Others’ capacity to connect to their hearts has been badly damaged through early trauma. For the latter, psychotherapy may be of benefit. I believe that the cruelty demonstrated many psychopaths is a misplaced attempt to reconnect to their hearts and feel whole again, to feel something rather than nothing. If a therapist can stomach exploring their acts of cruelty, deeply, a psychopath may well reconnect to his or her heart and develop some degree of empathy.
Over the years when practicing as a clinical psychologist, I encountered a number of people diagnosed as “psychopaths.” With respect to empathy, empathy requires that one be connected to one’s heart: people with high empathy tend to act from the heart rather than head, the latter being encouraged in Western cultures. Some psychopaths are born without the capacity to connect to their hearts, and their prognosis is poor. Others’ capacity to connect to their hearts has been badly damaged through early trauma. For the latter, psychotherapy may be of benefit. I believe that the cruelty demonstrated many psychopaths is a misplaced attempt to reconnect to their hearts and feel whole again, to feel something rather than nothing. If a therapist can stomach exploring their acts of cruelty, deeply, a psychopath may well reconnect to his or her heart and develop some degree of empathy.