Among psychotherapists there is a certain list of clients whose progress, if possible, is extremely slow, and the patience and defenses of the specialist are subject to manipulation, painful transference and projective identification: borderline, sociopathic individuals and clients with disorders behavior threats and attempts at suicide, expression of anger, demonstration of hostility, arguments, skepticism, deep depression, complete apathy and early termination of psychotherapy organic brain damage (stroke, traumatic brain injury) severe psychotic symptoms (delusions, hallucinations) hidden agendas (recognition of disability, referral for compulsory treatment) violation of temporary, financial and therapeutic boundaries accusations and denial of responsibility (“It’s not my fault,” “Cure me”) fear of close relationships (avoidance or seduction) overwhelm with emotions and feelings playing on the strings of your soul (reminder of your unresolved internal conflicts ) impatience (“Help me quickly!”) uncontrollability of impulses (criminals and drug addicts) problems of survival (lack of money, housing), which are much more important than those that can be overcome in psychotherapy, inability to speak the same language with you in the literal and figurative sense Now it may seem that all our clients are difficult. We are initiated into the most intimate secrets and the most unsightly and disgusting sides are revealed: perversion, cruelty, mistrust, cynicism. We are the ones who are trusted to eliminate the consequences of severe disappointments, divorces and deaths. We may think of some clients that their main goal is to make other people's lives miserable. They perfectly master sociopathic, narcissistic, hysterical behavior. They know how to get under your skin and get great pleasure from it. But we must be equanimous, no matter how strong the resentment, despair or anger. We need a lot of strength not to lose calm and composure in such situations. These efforts take up a significant portion of our resources. But this list is not universal, and each psychotherapist has his own most difficult clients (although, of course, there are also the most popular cases). Some people cannot work with bipolar or paranoid individuals, while others love the drama and complexity of such stories. And it is important for us not only to understand with whom we would like to work, and from whom we would like to protect ourselves, but also how this characterizes each of us personally. Igor Alferov | Balint groups: supervision, webinars, checklists