I want to know if it's possible to learn how to feel empathy in therapy. Lately, my difficulties relating to other people's drama has made me feel very disconnected. But every time I bring this up to my therapist, she says that I DO have empathy. And she'll point out something really small and trivial, like me thanking her for seeing me when her daughter was in town.

It makes me think that she's either trying to minimize my concerns because she feels hopeless about how to help me OR she has no idea what I mean when I say that I lack empathy. She's a pretty smart person, so I'm leaning towards the first explanation--she doesn't know how to treat someone who doesn't feel for other people, and she just doesn't how to tell me this.

So I'm feeling a bit hopeless about my survival beyond therapy. My therapist makes me feel connected to someone, even though I only see her for an hour once a week. She's shared enough of her life and personality with me that she feels like a genuine human being, but the "me" focus of our relationship makes feeling a lot of empathy towards her unnecessary. If I'm ever going to form a friendship with someone besides her, I will need to develop a heart. But I don't know how to grow one. I want to learn how, but I'm not sure if it's something that can be taught.

I'm wondering if anyone here has worked with their therapist on developing feelings. That sounds like an impossible feat to me, but I'm open to hearing what other people have done.