In his contribution to the 1956 Round Table Discussion, Silvano Arieti outlines some ideas that he considers effective in working with psychically fragmented patients. He speculates that the most effective tool in such a treatment is the creation of a certain atmosphere, based on the transference-countertransference relationship. In the spirit of this atmosphere, communication can be reestablished, genetic interpretations are linked together and the patient has the potential to recover his social self by rebuilding trust in the I-Thou relationship. Arieti also address the importance of the analyst's faith in the actualization of the potentialities of the patient who is struggling with primitive mental processes.