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This article is of interest to psychoanalysts not so much because of the findings, but rather because it deals with an area in which we have little data. It was designed to determine the effects of patient difficulty on measured physiological activation and self-reported behavioral arousal experienced by psychotherapists during sessions with patients. It was based on the premise of arousal theory that the degree of arousal is a function of task difficulty and the physical or symbolic intensity of stimuli. The method utilized actresses trained to simulate either "easy" or "difficult" patients, portraying such "difficult" behavior as passive rejection, tension, withdrawal, and antagonism. "Easy" patient behavior consisted of more solidarity, tension release, joking compliance, offering suggestions, and expressing feelings. Although therapists were more aroused during therapy sessions than during rest periods, there was no significant difference in their responses when dealing with the difficult patients as compared to the easy ones. The authors discuss a variety of factors to account for this finding. It would seem that far more subtle and individually determined factors might account for arousal differences in therapists, but it would be useful to know if there are any generally ascertainable factors that are involved in the creation of the particular state of responsiveness in a psychotherapist.