This paper explores some distinctive features of brief analytic psychotherapy as I practise it in a busy inner London GP surgery. The application of brief therapy to a borderline patient is discussed and there is an emphasis on a collaborative way of working. Psychodynamic ideas are applied to the use of the setting and, in particular, the clinical meeting of GPs and psychotherapist where important decisions are made about the continuation and nature of the treatment. Particular features of the discipline of brief therapy are examined such as the use of companionable interaction and exploration of the reasons why ordinary solutions cannot not be spontaneously employed by the patient. Assessment of underlying disorder which had previously remained undiagnosed is discussed in the context of the patient's concealment of her self-harm.