This book was conceived and written by the editor and the contributing psychoanalysts with two main aims in mind. First, to allow potential analysands to understand what they should expect if they decide to undergo psychoanalysis, and, second, to counteract the negative public image of psychoanalytic treatment.

The book opens with an introduction by Joseph Schachter in which he briefly discusses the present status of psychoanalysis and attempts to give a short answer to the question ‘what is psychoanalysis?’ He also comments, ‘I have seen people's lives transformed by psychoanalysis.’ Clearly, Schachter shares the frustrations of all experienced psychoanalysts faced by two incompatible facts. We have all seen the lives of our patients transformed by their psychoanalyses. At the same time, we have endured the minor and major attacks on the value of our work that is part of the current culture, at least in North America.