Abstract
In this paper the author presents a case in light of some of the most exciting and liberating developments in contemporary psychoanalytic theory. Through the story the author reflects on her participation in a fierce life and death struggle to establish a space for “goodness” in an otherwise tortured and haunted life. The author summarizes this experience focusing on three dimensions: (1) the psychodynamics of addiction, (2) transference and countertransference implications from an intersubjective perspective, and (3) clinical implications derived from considerations of practice in a Latino and non‐traditional therapeutic context.