This paper was given as the second Annual BCP Lecture in November 1999. It addresses the paradoxical position of psychoanalytical psychotherapy at present, pointing out that Freud's ideas are frequently attacked while at the same time being common currency, and the situation in which our ideas are quoted but our referrals drop. The paper questions the extent to which we ourselves are responsible for this and the ways in which our profession itself has become rigidified, clinging to old patterns of behaviour, especially in relation to training, without understanding either the reasons for the outdated patterns or the need to adapt and change them. It is suggested that unconscious disappointment in our work may contribute. Regretting the fact that in this country we are an ageing profession, solutions from other countries are discussed. Finally it is suggested that we can, if the profession so wishes, make appropriate changes here.