This paper addresses a very familiar subject, with a particular focus on the psychotherapist's contribution to the transference-countertransference unconscious dynamic. It summarizes some of the many discussions on counter-transference drawing from the vast literature on the subject. A case study is also given to illustrate the concept in clinical practice. The paper returns to the literature to trace the key elements that characterize it, and highlights the reiteration of different formulations of the same basic ideas. It then moves on to wonder about the reasons for this abundance of literature, proposing a parallel between the unravelling of countertransference in psychotherapy and the creative act, both based on the experience of personal discovery, where the production of an artefact does not require new subject matter but a fresh and personal reinterpretation.