During the analysis of neurotic dependence a state usually develops in the patient in which he behaves as though he could go ahead and become well but must balk at doing so. A study of this situation indicates he is in conflict over the wish to grow and become independent. A side of himself wishes this; a side fears it as a danger. The solution is a compulsive dependence on the analyst. The conflict and its solution repeat an original one with the mother, who defeated the infant's wishes for independence through forcing on him her preconceived ideas of his needs rather than being guided by the child's patterns and confining herself, where impositions were concerned, to realistic, constructive frustrations. The healthy solution to the patient's conflict lies in incorporating the analyst as the equivalent of the ideal mother who aids and realistically frustrates but does not force, and who remains fond of the patient during all the ambivalence and negativism in the course of treatment, the circumstances of its termination, and the post treatment period.