This article presents the case of a 64-year-old Mexican widow who had suicidal thoughts & feelings of uselessness. External demands on the therapist dictated psychotherapy be complete within 15 days. The focus was not on establishing transference, probing the unconscious or reconstructing the patient’s personality, but on identifying problems & formulating practical solutions promptly. Diagnosis was depression; treatment centred around increasing the quality of the patient’s activity. (16 ref.)