ABSTRACT
Traditional psychoanalysis has ignored Ferenczi's pioneering contribution to empathy, and successfully practiced Todschweigen, so that the concept of clinical empathy, as developed by Ferenczi, was removed from the analytic literature. After Kohut's death, an opening up occurred in the self-psychology community, which produced a book, which included a group of authors with a variety of theoretical perspectives that contributed to Self Psychology. Joseph Lictenberg, MD, the editor-in-chief of the journal Psychoanalytic Inquiry, opened up Self Psychology further by inviting guest editors to produce editions of Psychoanalytic Inquiry for all meaningful perspectives. The analysis between Ferenczi and Severn naturally became a hallmark in understanding the importance of empathy in a therapeutic relationship. The empathic response to Severn's employment of the semi-trance method became an important avenue for analyzing her trauma disorder, because it focused on actual, childhood trauma rather than the tradition of analyzing the Oedipal conflict. Severn's special capacity for empathy was demonstrated by her accurate empathic understanding.
