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"Some patients are very preoccupied by the show of empathy, from their therapist. But what does this word mean? Empathy is neither sympathy nor identification, and has three parts. The first is direct empathy which has neurological and experimental bases. By it, I put myself in someone else’s place. This direct empathy has two components: emotional empathy, which consists in feeling what someone else feels without confusing oneself with them; and cognitive empathy which consists in imagining what others imagine. The second part is reciprocal empathy: I let others put themselves in my shoes. It supposes that I agree that others have the same right to self-esteem as I have, the right to love and be loved just like me, and have the very same rights as me. The third part is reciprocal and mutual empathy, or inter-subjectivity: I will accept from others information on who I am, and guidance to self-revelation. The principal enemy of empathy is the desire for absolute control over others."