Cremerius argues that it is inappropriate to apply the rule of abstinence rigidly with all psychoanalytic patients. The problem is difficult: too much abstinence, and the analyst becomes a distant observer; too little, and he becomes a participant in the patient's neurotic process. But the rule is often too strictly applied; an inhuman rigidity can occur in analytic technique, whether the analyst's style shows paternal strictness or maternal empathy. Our literature on the subject is unsatisfactory. Cremerius traces the development of the rule of abstinence, which began with contact with hysterical female patients who tended to fall in love with the psychoanalyst and demand his participation in their love. We see the problem in the treatment of Anna O., and the later discussions of the problem with Jung when he was involved with Sabina Spielrein. In 1911 Freud recommended that discussion of countertransference,