Bob Wiley is a good-natured man with great work ethic, but he suffers from multiple phobias and is divorced because his ex-wife likes Neil Diamond. He feels good about the results of an initial session with Dr. Leo Marvin, an egotistical New York psychoanalyst. However, Bob is immediately left on his own with a copy of Leo's new book, ''Baby Steps'', when the doctor goes on vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire for a month. Unable to cope, Bob follows Leo to his vacation home. Leo is annoyed because he does not see patients on vacation, but seeing how desperate Bob is tells him to "take a vacation" from his problems. Bob seems to have made a breakthrough, but the next morning, he tells Leo that he decided to take a vacation in spirit and fact at Lake Winnipesaukee as a guest of the Guttmans, a couple who own a coffee shop and happily welcome Bob as their guest. The couple encourages Bob to be around Leo, as they hold a grudge against Dr. Marvin for purchasing the lakeside home they had been saving for years to buy.