Therapeutic identity in the realm of uncertainty - The theme of the therapeutic identity is discussed. Psychotherapy is a profession that, for its intrinsic characteristics, could be defined the "profession of uncertainty". This issues is discussed along three lines: the reconstruction of the psychotherapist’s personal identity through the autobiographic method (a method that some Italian historians call egostoria, i.e., "ego-history"); the definition of the training and educational processes which lead to professional identity; the foundation criteria of psychoanalytic method. The paper deals with the following problems, among others: the "clinical operation", psychoanalytic training, prevision in clinical work, and the criteria for the validation and measurement of clinical interventions. In the final part of the article the problems of diagnosis and of the indications for treatment both in psychiatry and psychoanalysis are discussed. [KEY WORDS: psychotherapist’s identity, autobiography, psychoanalytic method, diagnosis, clinical prevision]