This overview of the therapeutic relationship in psychoanalysis utilizes a sampling of findings of infant observational research to illuminate issues in the evolving technique of psychoanalysis. The therapeutic relationship is followed schematically through the course of a treatment, from initial contact through termination, and the gradual shift of psychoanalytic technique toward an interactional view of the psychoanalytic situation is noted. During the middle phase, some areas of current controversy in psychoanalysis are discussed, along with views on the multiple theoretical models currently available for organizing psychoanalytic data and for gaining clinical access for analytic work.