This book evolves from a research project in which psychoanalysts were interviewed about their own personal analyses. Tessman is clear that in shaping the project, she limited both the group being interviewed and the areas of investigation to be considered. Her chief intent was to determine what transpires between the psychoanalytic couple and how it is influenced by various factors: the nature of the relationship, the gender match, termination and how it is handled, post-termination effects, and the impact of the culture of the training situation.

The author weaves into the discussion her understanding of what transpires therapeutically in psychoanalytic process, augmented by the responses of the participants to her specific questions. Since many of the questions are about the analysand's perception