ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses more specifically the place of technique in Analytical Psychology, particularly the ambivalent nature of the relationship the Jungian world has with technique and interpretation. Some stereotypes regarding the form and purpose of interpretations are dispelled. The chapter also provides definitions of interpretation from Jungian and psychoanalytic perspectives as well as identifying the function of interpretation in relationship to the overall goals of analytic therapy. In addition, this chapter examines C. G. Jung’s position on the interpretive process as well as post-Jungian trends in interpretation. The artistic element involved with interpretation and the learning of the interpretive process is introduced by drawing parallels with the fundamental technical skills that all artists work to acquire before being able to create or perform freely.
