This paper develops the hypothesis that, as a rule, the analyst's countertransference dreams, i.e. those in which his patient appears in the manifest or latent dream content, may act as an indicator of a feared or denied loss of psychoanalytic competence.

This hypothesis is supported by theoretical considerations and examples drawn from clinical practice. Psychoanalytic competence is discussed in its various aspects, with particular emphasis on the relevance of the analytic relationship. The countertransference dream may be considered to have a healing function, in that it can help the analyst to recognize critical disturbances in the analytic relationship, and thus enable him to further the progressive development of the analytic process.