The authors propose that envy may exist at all biopsychosocial levels, from anatomical-biological penis envy through the envy that forms the basis of social class hatred. They suggest that the envy one observes in the clinical situation is a derivative of the animosity experienced by mothers toward their children, particularly toward their daughters. Unacknowledged resentment on the part of therapists interferes with their taking an appropriate empathic stance. Patients may protect themselves against experiencing the therapist's envy by inhibiting their own success. In each case, envy will sabotage a treatment unless the therapist acknowledges and deals with it as a countertransference issue.