The author links the function of analytic listening to Freud's concept of Nachträglichkeit, which she defines as the retroactive assignment of meaning rather than mere deferred action, and derives the notion of ‘listening to listening’ from their combination. A dialectical conception of time is proposed, with interpretation involving three logical phases, respectively incumbent on the analyst, on the patient and on both. Two clinical examples are given, showing how the patient speaks and listens from a position dictated by his unconscious identifications, which also cause him to reinterpret the analyst's interpretations and his silences. By listening to the patient's reassignment of meaning to his interpretations, the analyst can discover the patient's unconscious identifications and, together with the patient, thereby facilitate the process of psychic change. The author contends that by the function of ‘listening to listening’ it is possible to overcome the dilemma of whether the analyst with his interpretation or the patient with his own reinterpretation of it is right.