This dissertation explores how surrender has been written about in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A thematic analysis of text was carried out, which in this case was of literature, and once a dataset was established through a process of literature review, the articles were subsequently coded and an initial model of surrender was produced. The subsequent thematic analysis revealed themes that collectively described the nature of the phenomenon and which were represented diagrammatically in a revised model of surrender. Surrender is concluded to be a transformative process that occurs within a tension of Trust and Need. Numerous suggestions are offered for future research as well as a critique of the method of study.