ABSTRACT
This chapter sets out and explores the essential components of the communicative theory of psychoanalysis. All psychoanalytic theories employ some model of the mind. A model of the mind is thus a hypothetical device or system which simulates mental processes. The communicative model of the mind is most reminiscent of Sigmund Freud's topographical model. All forms of psychoanalytic practice stress the importance of formulating hypotheses about the unconscious meaning of patients' manifest communications and behavior. The communicative approach is very specific about the data that is used for forming hypotheses about deep unconscious concerns. Psychoanalytic theory is notoriously lax about specifying the deductions that can be legitimately made from its hypotheses. The communicative approach to validation uses an entirely different test: the test of derivative assent. Both patient and therapist are exquisitely sensitive to any variation in the behavior of the other or in the boundary conditions of therapy.
