Unless Man Can Make New And Original

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.

You Know That I Don't Believe That Anyone Has Ever Taught Anything To Anyone. I Question That Efficacy Of Teaching. The Only Thing That I Know Is That Anyone Who Wants To Learn Will Learn. And Maybe A Teacher Is A Facilitator, A Person Who Puts Things Down And Shows People How Exciting And Wonderful It Is And Asks Them To Eat.

So, As You Can Readily See From What I Have Said Thus Far, A Creative, Active, Sensitive, Accurate, Empathic, Nonjudgmental Listening Is For Me Terribly Important In A Relationship. It Is Important For Me To Provide It; It Has Been Extremely Important, Especially At Certain Times In My Life, To Receive It. I Feel That I Have Grown Within Myself When I Have Provided It; I Am Very Sure That I Have Grown And Been Released And Enhanced When I Have Received This Kind Of Listening.

To Be Original, Or Different, Is Felt To Be "dangerous."

When A Person Realizes He Has Been Deeply Heard, His Eyes Moisten. I Think In Some Real Sense He Is Weeping For Joy. It Is As Though He Were Saying, "thank God, Somebody Heard Me. Someone Knows What It's Like To Be Me".