The psychiatrist's fundamental purpose is to enable the patient to adapt himself to the cultural pattern in which he lives. The individual must be helped to achieve an acceptable solution of the constant struggle between his conscience, derived from parental attitudes, his self-interest, and the impacts made upon him by his associates. The psychiatrist himself finds it difficult to avoid accepting norms that have moralistic values rooted in the culture. Actually, both patients and physicians tend to select each other on the basis of common elements in their background. Therapeutic efficacy is to be measured not in terms of theory but by the practical outcome within the range of the contemporary ideal.