While patient's fantasies about cure have been discussed in psychoanalytic literature, little has been written about those of analysis. In an effort to maintain therapeutic neutrality, analysts are advised to have only the most general goals for their patients, such as increased autonomy. However, analysts often have specific and even enduring fantasies about the goals that will be achieved by their patients. Consequently the analyst develops a "patient ideal" based on the conscious and unconscious expectations of what the patient will be able to achieve in treatment. This ideal is derived from a fundamental sense of hope in the analyst, and as such is a precondition for successful treatment. Analysts must deal with their countertransferences in this situation and with the vicissitudes of the patient ideal as they endeavor to help their patients. In dealing with the patient ideal of the analyst and the ego ideal of the patient, the treatment process can be greatly facilitated.