This is the case history of a woman patient with a paranoid, psychotic father, who suffered for twenty-two years with aphonia and a borderline type of character neurosis. She underwent seven months of analysis and made a remarkable recovery from the aphonia during the postanalytic phase (verified over seven subsequent years). The problem of clinical improvement following psychoanalysis is discussed. The aphonia served the patient's general adaptive technique of withdrawal and noncommunication. This mechanism enabled her to avoid emotional catastrophies, particularly those which might have revived a deep, traumatic experience in the Oedipal relationship.