"...man can no more survive psychologically in a psychological
milieu that does not respond empathically to him, than he can
survive physically in an atmosphere that contains no oxygen. Lack
of emotional responsiveness, silence, the pretense of being an
inhuman computer-like machine which gathers data and emits
interpretations, do no more supply the psychological miieu for
the most undistorted delineation of the normal and abnormal
features of a person's psychological makeup than do an oxygen-
free atmosphere and a temperature close to the zero-point supply
the physical milieu for the most accurate measurement of his physiological
responses. Appropriate neutrality in the analytic situation is provided
by average conditions. The analyst's behavior vis-a-vis his patient
should be the expected average one- i.e., the behavior of a
psychologically perceptive person vis-a-vis someone who is suffering
and his entrusted himself to him for help..."

Heinz Kohut
*The Restoration of The Self*