In this concise paper, the author discusses the issue of the analytic frame within the context of the psychoanalytic treatment of borderline patients. This treatment shows that borderline patients have intrinsic difficulties in accepting the frame proposed by the analyst. The presentation of clinical material from a case example of a female borderline patient and the difficulties of maintaining the frame over a period of analysis shed light on a specific aspect of the problem: the paper stresses the importance of the analyst's attitude towards understanding the struggle for the borderline patient to accept the frame, and containing it while at the same time giving meaning to the enactments which inevitably appear during therapy. The paper also discusses the countertransference reactions that add to the aforementioned difficulty in maintaining the analytic relationship. Finally, the author presents proposals for alternative treatment settings which need to be evaluated, especially in relation to cases of severe borderline psychopathology.