A goal of most mental health therapy, at least in the
United States.
Empathy as a goal serves at least two purposes-
1. Puts the needs/wants of others first in the patient's mind, at least occasionally. Gives the patient some perspective and a version of the world different than their own. It also establishes the responsibility for "understanding" others on the person and not on those "other people" or the therapist (since the therapist does not need to live with your friends, relatives)
2. Secondly, and some would say, more importantly, it gives the patient a moment to step outside themselves and see how others view them- how others view the patient's problems. Their version of the patient's situation can be more instructive than any help from the therapist, since they have a more direct, unfiltered view of the patient's world. Empathy, in this sense, allows the patient to listen to and understand not just how others think and feel, but how they feel about you. It's emotional impact, if taken with an open mind, can be powerful.
Patients who cannot relate to others' feelings, and cannot see their side, are blind to the world around them. Worse, patients who cannot relate to how others see them are blind to themselves.
The concept of learned empathy is as close as Western Psychotherapy gets to Zen ideas.