the mirrored place

As I think about the work, it seems to me more and more evident that the primary job of the analyst is to validate the patient. You don’t have to agree with the patient. But what the patient says comes from a place that needs to be acknowledged as valid and true, and it is the analyst’s job to empty herself out of her thoughts and neuroses to make that place exist in her mind and soul, too — where the patient can see it mirrored into existence and legitimacy.