ABSTRACT
Upon being invited in March of 1978 to contribute a chapter to this book on the psychotherapeutic treatment of cancer patients, I reacted with a kind of self-depreciation concerning my potentiality for making a contribu tion to this subject that went far beyond my realistic lack of credentials as an authority on this subject. It was quite true that, during the thirty years of my work as a psychoanalyst and psychoanalytic therapist, I had worked with no greater number of cancer patients, or relatives of cancer patients, than had any other analyst over a similar time span.
