ABSTRACT
Interpretation is always thought to be the key to change in both psychotherapy and psychoanalysis. The concept has evolved markedly in recent years, in a variety of directions. As with other developments in psychoanalytic technique, instead of older concepts being replaced by new ones, a multiplicity of meanings have evolved, both along theoretical and empirical lines. With respect to an interpretation, in addition to the knowledge of the patient's dynamics and derivatives of his unconscious, the analyst also uses his own unconscious, his empathy, and his intuition as well as his theoretical knowledge for arriving at an interpretation. Schlesinger demonstrated how every good interpretation, rather than resolving the neurotic process, actually furthers it. Weiss and Sampson, through a study of psychoanalytic process from process notes and tape recordings, have developed the concept of control mastery. A contrasting model of the psychoanalytic situation conceptualizes a two-person field with the analyst being both an observer and a participant.
