While formal definitions of "psychotherapy' have been notoriously elusive, there appears to be general agreement that it involves a professional relationship between a person seeking help for an emotional or behavior problem and a professional who is recognized by society as possessing a certain expertise. An important concomitant of this conception is the existence of an implicit or explicit contract between the participants, together with responsibilities that each party must fulfill. Various advertised "self-help" programs are often misleading or even dangerous in the promises they hold out or the problems they offer to solve. Many factors, such as a client's built-in reluctance to change, can hardly be handled effectively in an entirely self-administered program. Psychology as a profession has a clear responsibility to educate the public on the subject of realism and feasibility in the area of personality and behavior change. (Author/BP)