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Therapeutic impasse, while often heralding the destruction of the analytical treatment process, may provide an unexpected opportunity for setting it back into motion. While not deliberately sought after, the impasse sets the stage for both patient and analyst to shift sufficiently to forge a more meaningful dialogue and connection. Pizer's discussion highlighted the analyst's struggle to keep his patient in mind while maintaining a working grasp on his capacity for reflective, analytical thought. Ringstrom's contributions offered the framework of improvisational drama, allowing a greater range of experimentation and play between patient and analyst, facilitating their collaborative creation of new ways of connecting, while exploring what is mutually safe and manageable. Harris's thoughts on phallic potency provided clinically valuable insights into the patient's undercurrent of conflict between desire and dread/hatred, in his strivings for mastery and a meaningful connection. The discussants' contributions also allowed a deeper understanding of the analyst's own conflicts over mastery and the self-protective urge to retreat.