The authors focus attention on the wish of most patients for a magic cure by the therapist and the unconscious mechanisms that produce it. Using the adaptational point of view, they review the developmental steps every infant goes through in his growth toward independence from his mother. Childhood experiences that tend to drive the child back to the stage of magical dependency, such as separation from the mother, are discussed. Clinical examples are given to show the manifestations of the dependency conflicts in adults. Patients who never achieved appreciable independent positions are least likely to benefit from treatment; the best that can be offered is a kind of transference 'cure'.