ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the therapeutic effect of the passage of time and the therapist's relationship to time. We review the literature on the role of time in the development of psychic structure in childhood and in psychotherapy, and then present the case history of Gertrude, a woman patient in psychodynamic once weekly psychotherapy with one of us (LS). Holding and containment over time, the main ingredients of Gertrude's treatment in the ®rst two years, fostered a remarkable, unlikely degree of improvement in Gertrude. We will conclude with a vignette of a session from the second year of treatment to show how Gertrude's play with time delivered the problem directly into the transference and so provided material that will be the basis for interpretation to come ± when the time is right.
