This is a report on some attitudes of three therapists and the influence of such attitudes on the psychotherapy of eleven psychotic patients. In addition to conscious reasons, these patients were chosen by the therapists for various unconscious reasons, among which are a similarity to some important figure in the therapist's past, behavior on the part of the patient which is perceived as a conflict which the therapist shares with the patient, and flattery of the therapist by the patient.

The therapist's ability to see himself in the patient may have some bearing on the unconscious significance of the term 'empathy'. This feeling of identity is communicated to the patient through the therapist's interest and unreserved acceptance. The repressed conflicts in the therapist, which had originally attracted him to the patient, may be activated by the patient's behavior, and the therapist must be able to handle these realistically—not with emotional