Within the relational revisioning of psychoanalysis, important questions have emerged concerning the compatibility or incompatibility of the empathic understanding so treasured by self psychology and the authentic participation championed by relational analysts more indebted to the interpersonalist and Kleinian traditions. Does remaining close to the patient's emotional perspective require the analyst to become dishonest or inauthentic? Or conversely, does authentic participation require an emotional distance incompatible with empathic understanding? The author argues for a clinical sensibility and a theoretical/philosophical orientation that renders authenticity and empathy not only compatible with but also necessary to each other. This solution proceeds not by an appeal to dialectic, paradox, or shifting listening perspectives, but rather by questioning the assumptions that create the apparent opposition.