The critical-incident technique was used to obtain a list of 52 critic
al incidents defined by the behavior of patients who create special di
fficulties for psychotherapists. The critical incidents could be divid
ed into four major categories: threat of harm, criticism of the therap
ist or of the therapy, occurrence of a major life crisis, and attempts
by the patient to seek friendship or seduction. Twenty-one experience
d psychiatrists rated the importance and the frequency of occurrence o
f each of the 52 critical incidents. Ten third-year psychiatric reside
nts also rated the incidents. For almost every incident the inexperien
ced psychiatrists rated the incident as less important and more freque
nt than did the experienced psychiatrists. Implications for the traini
ng and supervision of psychotherapists are discussed.