ABSTRACT
This chapter describes three of the primary care cases in which evidence emerged of the importance of the doctor's personal experience in creating and shaping defences against emotional engagement with the patient. In the first case the group's shared realisation of the personal factor remained unspoken. In the second, the group had its first open disclosure of some personal history which the presenting doctor discovered during the discussion. In the third case, the doctor was able to deepen his understanding of his defences as a result of later reflection on his own. In all three of these examples, there was a degree of withdrawal or withholding of empathy on the part of the doctor. In all three there is evidence that the doctor 'saw' something in the patient that made him feel that it would be unwise or unsafe to get too close.
