[Eros therapeutikós. Love and ethics in psychotherapy]

Love in the deepest and highest level, as conceived by Platon in his symposium, is considered in the context of occidental philosophy's "feelings of sympathy" (Max Scheler), empathy and the mystic feeling of cosmic oneness. The buddhistic concepts of loving kindness (metta) reaches its highest level in the Bodhisattva of Mahayana. Love is an essential element of the development of knowledge. Love and knowledge increase the awareness of a universal responsibility. Therapeutic love is an essential medium of any humane therapy and can be cultivated in the mental personal development of the therapist.