Both The Young And The Old Are

The Paradigm Of Western Culture Is That The Essence Of Persons Is Dangerous; Thus, They Must Be Taught, Guided, And Controlled By Those With Superior Authority.

The State Of Empathy, Or Being Empathic, Is To Perceive The Internal Frame Of Reference Of Another With Accuracy And With The Emotional Components And Meanings Which Pertain Thereto As If One Were The Person.

It Is The Client Who Knows What Hurts, What Directions To Go, What Problems Are Crucial, What Experiences Have Been Deeply Buried.

We Can Choose To Use Our Growing Knowledge To Enslave People In Ways Never Dreamed Of Before, Depersonalizing Them, Controlling Them By Means So Carefully Selected That They Will Perhaps Never Be Aware Of Their Loss Of Personhood.

An Empathic Way Of Being Can Be Learned From Empathic Persons. Perhaps The Most Important Statement Of All Is That The Ability To Be Accurately Empathic Is Something Which Can Be Developed By Training. Therapists, Parents And Teachers Can Be Helped To Become Empathic. This Is Especially Likely To Occur If Their Teachers And Supervisors Are Themselves Individuals Of Sensitive Understanding. It Is Most Encouraging To Know That This Subtle, Elusive Quality, Of Utmost Importance In Therapy, Is Not Something One Is "born With", But Can Be Learned, And Learned Most Rapidly In An Empathic Climate.