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After emphasizing the importance of the analyst's neutral stance for the necessary development and resolution of the transference neurosis, the author examines in detail five topics: the concept of neutrality, Freud's neutrality, neutrality and technique, neutrality and termination, and neutrality in therapies other than psychoanalysis. Neutrality is seen as the maintenance of equidistance from ego, id, superego, as proposed by Anna Freud, and is distinguished from indifference, goallessness and nondirectiveness. Freud referred to the analyst as an elucidator, one who clarifies. De la Torre discusses the requirements of neutrality with respect to other aspects of analytic technique, such as openness, spontaneity, transference, countertransference, and abstinence. Anonymity and the proper use of the analyst's passivity and activity further the analytic work. The termination phase tests neutrality vigorously and is a time when analytic technique should be faithfully preserved. Neutrality is applicable and necessary in situations other than psychoanalysis, but the more a therapeutic interaction departs from psychoanalysis, the less can neutrality be preserved and the more difficult it becomes to implement.