On the Role of Empathy in Child Development and Psychotherapy: What is Empathy and How Does it Help?

In this article, I will present a contemporary understanding of the nature of empathy and the importance of empathy in successful psychotherapy with children. This perspective highlights the intrinsic relationship of empathy and affect. I will consider how the child therapist’s empathy is expressed and offer a specific hypothesis on the therapeutic efficacy of empathic understanding in clinical work with children.  Finally, I will discuss how the experience of empathic understanding is beneficial in the emotional life of the child and in all human relationships, throughout life.