“Mental refuges” are mental states into which patients retreat to escape anxiety and mental pain. In this case, the patient’s life becomes sharply limited and the treatment process “gets stuck.” Addressing his book to the practicing psychoanalyst and psychoanalytic psychotherapist, John Steiner uses the new developments of Kleinian psychoanalysis to enable analysts to recognize the problems of treating seriously ill patients. The author studies the structure of mental refuges and, using detailed clinical material, explores the analyst’s capabilities in treating patients who have escaped reality. The publishing layout is saved in PDF A4 format.