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Ferenczi's concern with the consequences of trauma led him to explore the empathic mode within the context of a two-person “mutual encounter.” Through his clinical practice, Ferenczi realized that empathy was the essential ingredient missing in the parent-child disturbance and that the safe, trusting, and protected therapeutic relationship provided a reparative experience.
Spyros Orfanos's autobiographical narrative, “On Bread and Wine,” demonstrates in literary form the curative aspects of a mutual empathic encounter between father and son. Here, both parent and child, immersed in Greek culture, transcend a traumatic past through shared understanding and compassion.
Pieces submitted to this section should describe an emotionally engaging and compelling experience from the therapist's personal life. Subjects can vary from childhood to adult experiences, phantasmal or historical. The story must depict something moving or memorable. The “Lives” section of the New York Times Magazine represents the kind of writing appropriate for this section. Examples include such experiences as first love, a death, a moment that defined your career, an experience that altered your life, or the loss of a loved one, including a patient. The essay should be written in literary form rather than scholarly style, so that the reader is engaged in a personal experience with the narrator. The length should be no more than 14 pages, double-spaced.
Nontherapists and adolescents are encouraged to submit.