The Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 20, 1951, No. 1: Rudolph M. Loewenstein. 'The Problem of Interpretation.'

Interpretation is one among many ways in which the analyst intervenes during treatment. Other interventions include those which induce the patient to follow the fundamental rule, those which fall under the heading of the rule of abstinence, those which help to create the so-called analytical atmosphere, and those which encourage verbalization and discourage acting-out. Another group of interventions falls into the category of preparation for interpretation, e.g. confronting the patient with the fact that certain events and modes of behaviour have tended to recur during his life. No hard and fast line can be drawn between this kind of confrontation and an interpretation proper, which increases the patient's knowledge of himself.

Interpretations produce insight only if certain conditions are fulfilled; dynamic, economic, and structural considerations have to be taken into account. These are discussed in a way that aims 'at encompassing in greater detail the rôle of ego psychology in psycho-analytic technique'.

Interpretations are directed towards increasing the patient's understanding of his own individual experiences and not to the uncovering of 'complexes'. They should conform to the patient's progression 'from the surface to the so-called depths' and should achieve an optimal balance between the known and the unknown, between the present and the past. They are best given in a certain sequence, e.g. defences should be analysed before id derivatives. This sequence, however, is not, as has frequently been maintained, a direct reflection of the layered structure of the personality in reverse chronology. As a result of the overlap of developmental stages and of 'reshuffling' during analysis 'the process of analysis is not a mirror image of the psychological ontogeny'.

Closely connected with the sequence of interpretation are the questions of timing and 'tact'. Premature deep interpretations should be avoided, since they tend to mobilize intellectualizing defences.