The authors suggest that it is Sigmund Freud's metapsychology that defines psychoanalysis and differentiates it from all other psychologies. Metapsychology is a multidimensional approach that requires time to master and discipline to apply. It does not provide quick solutions to complex problems but gives practitioners scope for expansion and structure for safety. Freud used the constant efforts of the Dutch to reclaim land from the sea as a metaphor for psychoanalysis. The authors suggest that Freud's idea of psychoanalysis resting on observation and multidimensional or metapsychological description of what is observed has been swept out to sea and replaced by a narrow structural theory and a single-track model of development. This has led to a confusing array of competing models.