In this paper, we have tried to examine the complex dynamics of the therapist's physical chronic illness. Little attention has been paid to physical non-functioning, especially during chronic illness, and its psychotherapeutic corollaries. A crucial theme is the extent of damage to the capacity to contain. It is our claim that, when sufficiently worked through, the 'cracked therapeutic container' may serve as a facilitator of better understanding and enhance empathy. The impact of chronic illness on the therapeutic setting, contract, process and language is discussed as well as some salient features of chronicity.