This is a detailed case report of a thirty-year-old married woman who came for treatment because of depression that began with the birth of her only child, a daughter, two years earlier. She wished to pursue graduate studies, but could not execute her plan. Her ineffectiveness was in large part a consequence of her fear that her self-actualization would damage her marriage. The therapist, using a systemic framework, helped the patient discover the roots of her attitude in her actual