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We begin by reiterating our “dominant, immediate reaction” to Peterfreund's book as one “written by a decent, humane, and extraordinarily honest therapist” and further, that “if Peterfreund wanted to convey to the reader some idea of the experiences and therapeutic approach of a caring, hard-working, dedicated, and empathic therapist, he has succeeded admirably” (Eagle and Wolitzky, 1986, p. 79-80). Amid the criticisms we presented in our original evaluation and the current exchange between Peterfreund and ourselves, it is perhaps too easy to lose sight of the above, and that would do justice neither to Peterfreund's book nor to our view of it.
Where then do the seemingly sharp differences between Peterfreund and ourselves lie? Perhaps the basic difference between us lies in the following: Peterfreund is concerned with conveying the experiences of a clinician struggling in his words, “to make decisions in situations of great uncertainty, often ones of urgency, with limited available information” and in describing