Four years previously Mrs. R. had shown distinct manifestations of syphilis, and had received medical treatment. The infection the physicians believed was accidental, and the husband and children had proved, upon examination, to be free from any symptoms. For over a year in Mrs. R.'s case Wassermann tests had indicated that the disease had been cured; but the doctor's assurances were of no avail. The blackness of this patient's depression had almost wrecked her home. For months she had not prepared a single meal. The patience of her relatives and friends and of the priest of her church--who considered her what she looked, the picture of health--was entirely exhausted. Ordinarily the income of the family was sufficient for self-support. Mr. R., a bright, clean-looking young bar-tender, who was well thought of by his employers, earned $18 a week. He had been making a desperate effort to meet the extra expenses due to his wife's illness. The strain was beginning to tell upon him, however, and the health of the children was also falling below normal. The family lived in a five-room tenement in a congested and undesirable neighborhood. Mrs. R. for this reason worried constantly about the possible bad influences upon her two elder children, who were just beginning to go to school. Thus the mental clinic faced an acute situation. If it were not effectively dealt with it would, at worst, terminate in suicide, and, at best, in breaking up a promising family. The facts just recited were, of course, not secured at the physician's first interview with Mrs. R., but were in part gained by the social worker in the clinic and at the home. It was apparent that the home situation must be considered as well as the medical problem. There was clearly a joint task for the social worker and the mental specialist. Consultation led to the conclusion that the home arrangements would have to be changed until Mrs. R. was able to undertake housekeeping again. A long month of explanation and persuasion passed before the family, friends, and priest were converted to a plan which involved the temporary dissolution of the home. Consent was finally obtained, and the children were placed by a children's agency. Probably most important of all, the earnest co-operation of the patient herself was won. For four months she reported at the clinic two or three times a week. After the many interviews held with her by doctor and social worker, her depression gradually cleared up, and she became ready to take up the battle of life again. As improvement grew more marked, the doctor advised that she should work three hours each day outside her home. Three hours' work every day in a good restaurant was secured. The benefit was so marked that after a month the doctor suggested that the working time be doubled.