“Going back to Matthew and the questions regarding the possibility of him having productive treatment, one might have the following reverie of an alternative therapy development inspired by this introduction. Accordingly, his treatment started with a careful discussion of his past experiences with psychotherapy and significant others. During that discussion he disclosed that many times he tended to end relationships when he felt angry or disappointed and, subsequently, put the blame on others. As a result, his therapist brought up the possibility that a similar situation might occur in treatment and that it would be important to work it through so he could have an opportunity to address this tendency to end relationships. Matthew agreed as he regretted some of these impulsive endings. As the treatment unfolded, he indeed voiced his inclination to leave after nobody showed up for his graduation party. That led to the discussion about the agreement he made at the outset of the treatment. Initially, Matthew was hesitant to honor it, but agreed to give it another try after the therapist emphatically recounted how much Matthew regretted many of his early endings. As they worked together, therapist noticed his own critical thoughts about Matthew’s intolerant judgmental attitude to others. The therapist had a consultation with an experienced colleague, and they end up wondering whether these critical feelings correspond to how Matthew feels about himself and, also, reflect critical voices of his perfectionistic parents. That allowed the therapist to listen more closely to the internal experiences of Matthew, not just to their external manifestations. He started getting curious about the inner experiences of Matthew that we hid behind arrogance, condescending criticism of others and distrust. Gradually, Matthew started describing a profound sense of insecurity, distrust in himself, and a constant sense of not being good enough viz-a-viz unremitting self-criticism. He started noticing parallels between his self-criticism and the criticism of his parents that made him feel humiliated and inept throughout his unhappy childhood. Talking about his childhood feelings brought up fear regarding therapy as he worried that the “therapy was making him weak”. Matthew explained that talking about his feelings made him feel vulnerable, which he equated with being weak. He felt angry at the therapist who was “weakening him” and making him “less prepared to deal with the hostile world out there”. Invited to reflect on these judgments, he saw parallel with the stoic critical culture of his family that dealt with persecution and discrimination. He was also surprised that the therapist was not retaliating against him, despite Matthew’s angry criticism. He shared that it made him feel accepted and cared for and indicated that he wanted to feel like that in his life. As he was more open to the side of him that wanted to be cared for and accepted, he started to consider that others might have the same desires as well. That invited him to consider that “maybe there is more to life than who hurts whom” and started considering building friendship on more genuine interest and support as his fear of criticism by others started to subside as well.”