Analyses have progressively lengthened since Freud's time. Analyses that last more than eight years, at three or more sessions per week, are no longer uncommon. Although there is a sizable literature on analytic stalemates and impasses, few published papers have dealt directly with the increased duration of analyses. In the present paper, the authors propose that, in certain long analyses, analysand and analyst share with individual variations a central dynamic, often associated with early trauma, which they call the Indestructible Ideal. It consists of a strong wish to preserve an intense relationship between the ideal ego and the idealized object. Omnipotent unconscious fantasies are prevalent, involving the magical satisfaction of life's needs, without effort or struggle. Such dynamics preclude mourning, which is necessary for further growth. Attention is drawn to certain types of enmeshed transference-countertransference events that are frequently encountered in such cases.