When working with people who are physically ill or disabled, therapists draw upon their own associated experience, knowledge and beliefs, which may be similar to the clients, but may be very different. A physical illness or disability can challenge not only the client's own view of the world but their therapist's too. This seminar will give therapists a chance to explore some of the complexities of the interaction between mind and body which impact on the psychotherapeutic relationship. An encounter with a new illness or disability can raise fears and anxieties in therapists as well as their clients. Thinking and understanding the client's point of view may be under threat for a while. In order to work with people who present with physical problems, therapists have to be comfortable with their own feelings about illness, including their own fantasies about causes, cures, death, dying, dependence and bodily imperfections. People who have lived with physical illness or disability for a long period of time will have found their own ways of conceptualising both the illness and its relationship to other people. Until the therapist understands the way the client sees their illness, there is potential for many uncomfortable misunderstandings. Illness can make both therapist and client feel bad, in many different ways. However, understanding has the potential to make both feel and behave better.