Community care, despite its many benefits, can result in fragmentation and confusion. Bion's and Bowlby's notions of containment and attachment are applied to the difficulties inherent in trying to practise psychotherapeutic psychiatry in a community setting. The treatment of a ‘difficult’ patient, which ended in suicide, is described. The implications for psychotherapy of the new arrangements in the National Health Service are discussed. Psychotherapeutic supervision for all mental health workers is essential if community care is to become effective, and this needs to be recognised by the development of adequately funded psychotherapy services.