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Drawing on the case of a young woman presenting depressive disorders and eating disorders, the author shows how the hopefulness aroused by meeting her analyst fostered the establishment of a genuine analytic process. The author postulates that it was the basic transference that was decisive not only for the cathexis of the person of the analyst, but also of the analytic process, by allowing for the creation of an area of illusion that had not been possible hitherto. An instance of acting through speech by the analyst resonated as a seduction in the form of an offer of analysis for the analytic couple. Her function as a stimulus barrier allowed the analyst to take into account very regressive, affective and preverbal aspects, and thereby to favour the transference neurosis. Far from maintaining an illusory omnipotence, the analysis enabled the patient to carry out processes of mourning and renunciation. Hopeful expectation is discussed with reference to various authors (Freud, Grunberger, Vila).