Searles’ case conference material provides illustrative examples of the ways in which making contact with another person’s mind can cause one to doubt one’s own reality – and shows that this experience can be usefully disorienting in ways which bring about growth, or terrifyingly destabilizing in ways which provoke regression in both therapist and patient or supervisee and supervisor. In like manner, Wells’ group-as-a-whole level of analysis outlines both the regressive and growth enhancing aspects of group life and group membership. This article applies both Searles’ work on countertransferential dynamics and systems theory to two case studies, one involving the inpatient treatment of an adolescent girl, and the second involving a discussion of the racial and gender dynamics which unfolded between a black, male supervisee and a white, female supervisor. The article discusses the grave dangers involved in making contact with another’s mind, but also the potential for healing, growth, self-actualization, and self-validation which mutual recognition provides.