In this article, an autobiographical and narrative format is used to explore the connections between receiving personal therapy and providing it. The author describes the multiple origins and evolution of his psychoanalytically informed framework for thinking about what it means to be a therapist and to do the work of therapy. He draws on his own experiences as a psychotherapy patient, being psychoanalyzed, treating fellow therapists, as well as the teachings of body-movement therapists, internalization-based models of the sources of therapeutic change, and empirical research in order to argue on behalf of three propositions: (a) the cornerstones of effective therapy are ever-increasing collaborative inquiry and communicative intimacy, (b) effective personal therapy contributes to the continuing development of the interpersonal and communication skills that are widely regarded as the core components of therapeutic competence, and (c) effective personal therapy can make a vital contribution to the education of psychotherapists.