There are two processes which are both called guilt; feelings of remorse and wishes to make reparation which are in the service of development, and persecutory guilt which is experienced as crippling and pervasive but which cannot be mediated by forgiveness or reparation and is sterile and anti-development. The author argues that in adult life these feelings are often not on a continuum but are essentially different internal systems. The main drivers for the acquisition and maintenance of persecutory guilt are discussed. Persecutory guilt is a considerable obstacle to internal change and needs to be replaced by the feelings which lead towards reparation if there is to be progress; such progress can be disallowed because the patient feels too worthless to be reprieved. The paper uses examples from a psychotherapy group to illustrate the points.