[Encounters with non-dreamers]

When a patient's hardship is presented to a therapist as an unpleasant experience as much as a desired state, interest in the former's suffering tends to decrease. Furthermore, repetitive anecdotes and the refusal to collaborate isolate the therapist in a position of sadistic silence. During these moments when imagining and theorizing merge, therapists seek to protect themselves against doubt and irritability. The authors argue that they should avoid changing patients and basing strategies on a diagnostic. Instead, rather than struggle with the structure in which they work, therapists should confront the process during which their own feelings and interview tactics are at play.