Abstract: My contribution debates the relationshipbetween the rule of abstinence andcountertransference, existing much moreimplicitly than explicitly in the specializedstudies. I discern three moments: exclusionof countertransference by the demand ofabstinence as a rule; restraining theabstinence rule to neurotic disorders andemphasizing the importance of noticing andexpressing countertransference for thepsychotic pathology and borderline;exclusion of the rule of abstinence and theassertion, as a substitute, of the “optimalgratification” principle, which promotes theexpression of countertransference, a validprinciple for the neurotic disorders too. By pointing out the one-sided extreme pointsof view, I put forward: “the principle of theoptimal facilitation of the analysis” as analternative to overcome one-sided attitudesinside a balanced synthesis.