By analyzing facial expressions of emotion and the emotional experience of a patient and a psychotherapist, we attempted to objectively register unconscious interaction processes that could have contributed to the failure of a psychotherapy that ended prematurely. In this connection, the affect 'contempt' played a particular role. It is made clear how an unconscious enactment results in a gap between emotional expression and experience. In addition, the countertransference of the psychotherapist is examined and the emotional experience is contrasted with her affective behavior. In this study, it is demonstrated how this particular psychotherapy failed due to a lack of acknowledging the involvement of the interactive dynamics.