Empathy in Carl Rogers and holding company in a relational frame of reference, according to Joyce Slochower

This article discusses the points of contact and differences between holding and empathy, as they are theorised in customer-centric therapy, founded by Carl Rogers, and in Joyce Slochower, an eminent representative of relational psychoanalysis. The therapeutic quality of empathy and empathic referencing is the common thread that links the two ways of being in the therapeutic setting. At the same time it is clear that the perspective of empathy in TCC cannot be isolated from other qualities that are simultaneously present, while according to Slochower the use of the holding company requires a temporary renunciation of the use of disclosure. It reflects on the need to compare different paradigms and, at the same time, on the importance of being consistent in relation to one's own theoretical model, from the perspective of the client's interest.