This article aims to bring into focus the importance of the working relationship and the part it plays in the outcome of therapy. There appears to be a lack of attention in the psychoanalytic literature regarding the working alliance, how it is established and maintained, and the role it plays in the uncovering of unconscious material, including the interpretation of the transference. A rough historical survey outlines the evolution of the concept, and traces its gradual decline in the analytic literature in favour of the transference. Greenson's formulations, as the exception to this trend, are expanded to include the usefulness of the concept in working with borderline patients.