ABSTRACT
This chapter takes up some of the ways that analysts influence their patients other than by the lexical content of their interpretations. The author considers what gives the analyst the authority to have her agenda taken seriously by the patient who is clearly looking for something else. Transference authority, “legitimate” authority, and the role of suggestion are examined. A clinical example is used to distinguish among various influences and to illustrate how interpretation is imbedded in a variety of other powerful influences.
