The previous time I was at the hospital Alice had not come to the unit. I was told that she felt too depressed to come down. I went to see her. She had looked surprised and impressed by my visit. She talked on at some length about her suicidal thoughts. I supported this on the basis that {118} verbal expression might make active expression unnecessary if she experienced empathy regarding how dreadful she felt. Then with little encouragement she had come down to the unit with me. Today, Alice was always near me, but nonverbal except for concise responses to questions that were offered with effort. I verbalized my reflections on her behavior and said that I was wondering about it. She said, "I like having you around; it takes me away from my thoughts." "How are your thoughts?" "The same, I wonder if I'll ever get better?" "You've gotten better before. I wonder if you're not more concerned about whether you can stay well." Alice, eyes watery, agreed with a nod. Irene, another patient, interrupted, "Don't expect too much from me, I've been here twelve years." I responded to them both, "But, I do expect a lot of you; things don't always have to be the same." 10. I verified my intuitive grasp of how patients were experiencing events by questions and comments, and being alert to their responses. _Example_ Vincent's ritualistic behavior is associated in my mind with his exaggerated conscious expression of only the true, the good, and the beautiful. On this occasion we had just had a long talk about his weekend at home, his concerns about his family, and his food likes and dislikes. As we left a room he took his usual long step over the threshold. I noted this aloud and asked him if he knew why he did this. His expression became wide-eyed and smiling which indicates to me he consciously or unconsciously is selecting what he is going to say. We came to the next threshold. He stopped me by touching my arm and said, "Josephine, I almost grabbed you to prevent your bumping into that patient." In relation to my last question I focused on the "grabbed you" and said, "Vincent, to think about grabbing me is a pretty natural thought, and no reason to take a wide step over a threshold." He put his foot very deliberately if rather testily, right in the middle of this threshold. He stopped, looked at me with his hands together and giggled. Then he had to go to the bathroom. 11. I attempted to encourage hope realistically through discussing individual therapeutic gains that could be derived from patients' investment in therapeutic opportunities available to them. _Example_