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Embarking on treatment with a schizophrenic patient conflicts with the threat represented by any object cathexis for the integrity of his ego. A constant prompting is required from the therapist, which resembles an attempt at seduction. Accordingly, when this first stage has been overcome, the transference that is established is in essence erotomaniac, in the sense that the patient feels that he has been chosen by the object, without having to determine whether he himself cathects the object. This transference can be considered the equivalent of the foundational transference in psychotic patients. Its configuration is discussed in relation to certain characteristics of the relationship with the primary object.