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Interactional Psychotherapy is a pragmatic synthesis of Freudian and neo-Freudian theory and therapy. The book captures the theoretical essence of these approaches insofar as they pertain to practical issues of therapy, and adds ideas of its own.
The techniques of interactional psychotherapy are predicated upon a modified version of classic psychoanalysis. The chief modification consists of an intentional management of transference, with transference being defined as ongoing interaction (“exchange of cathexes”) between therapist and patient. Once the open-loop or oneway character of classic transference is questioned, then contact is made with major neo-Freudian figures such as Sullivan, Adler, and Jung.
Wolman suggests that the course of psychotherapy parallels the evolution of psychoanalytic theory and practice. He argues that there are three stages to psychotherapy: “The first phase is analytic: its aim is to resolve the emotional problems of the past and heal the wounds, for one cannot accomplish much as long as one is crippled by past errors and miseries. Then comes the second phase—the search for identity. The third and last phase is devoted to setting goals in one's life; I call it becoming: self-realization” (emphasis in original). The first phase comes closest to Freudian psychoanalysis. The second phase resembles Sullivan's concerns about self-systems, consensual validation, and the role of the participant observer. The third phase is a compound of Adler's creative self and style of life and Jung's individuation and self-realization. Throughout, Sullivan's concerns about interpersonal relations receive emphasis, as illustrated by the author's view that interactive transference is a dynamic, social process.
Wolman argues that there are three basic types of social relationship: instrumental, mutual, and vectorial. Instrumental refers to a “taking” situation, as exemplified by the mother being an instrument of nourishment to the infant. Mutual refers to a recipr