I have been working on forgiveness, but I have taken a slightly different approach. I have not found empathy to be the key to my process, but as with so many things, there are likely different paths to the same place. It has been a part of the process, just not the key. I found that empathy tended to result from forgiveness, not the other way around.
The most difficult things for me to forgive have been wrongs against my children. The most difficult person to forgive has been myself.