This volume recounts how personal events in the life of a therapist impact therapy and transference and countertransference. Leading psychotherapists share their personal experiences of the effects of life events such as illness, pregnancy, divorce, and malpractice suits on therapy. Consideration of how a patient will react to change in the therapist's life is critical to successful therapy. When and how should a therapist tell patients about his or her own serious illness? How can a therapist practicing in a small community promise confidentiality to patients? What happens when a therapist's frequent absences stir emotions of envy, anger, or fear of abandonment in a patient? The therapist's own reactions to personal life events are equally important considerations in therapy. What happens when the divorcing therapist brings hostility, detachment, and other personal emotions into therapy? How can the therapist embroiled in a malpractice suit keep intense anger and feelings from spilling over into therapy? Through its poignant descriptions of life's intrusions on the therapeutic process, this volume offers guidance for therapists on practicing in the real world.