Some analysands have great difficulty in facing the fact that they are in analysis, instead clinging grimly to the conviction that they are doing something else. This 'something else' points to the secret fantasy of being an exception, someone who is exceptionally well-loved and occupies an exceptional position with the analyst. On the basis of the secret fantasy of an analysand, the author describes the various possible intrapsychic functions of such a fantasy and attempts to explain why this fantasy has to be defended with such desperate tenacity.