ABSTRACT
In this paper, I consider the fear of dependence, as it is experienced by therapists and patients in therapeutic relationships. The concept of dependence is briefly reviewed in both Eastern and Western psychoanalytic literature. A clinical illustration is given of the fear of dependence in a male patient. It is suggested that the Western ideal of independence is a myth which especially ignores the reliance on internal others. Although this chapter is mainly about the fear of dependence experienced by patients, the ideas I want to explore first came from thinking about the fears experienced by clinicians in relation to patients becoming dependent on them, or on the institutions in which they work.
