ABSTRACT
The psychoanalytic approach can be divided into two aspects: the configurational and the empathic. In adapting the clinically developed empathic skill to any form of applied analysis, the absence of a living subject in a transference situation introduces a methodological obstacle. It was Freud who originated the basic method of psychological biography that still stands: the primary empathic insight, followed by the diligent search in the biographical life-line and related factors for evidential support and elaboration. Although empathy has always been an integral instrument to biographer and clinician alike, the recent development of the self-psychological approach in psychoanalysis has greatly enriched and illuminated our understanding of the concept. Although some biographers may show a special resonant affinity with their subjects, resulting in compellingly plausible portraits, the inherent limitations of imperfect empathy may preclude any 'definitive' psychological biography. The corroborative methods for verifying the primary empathic data take many forms, including convergence of disparate sources of data, internal consistency, or plausibility.
