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Flumerfelt describes patients who use interpretations for oral gratification. The gratification also serves as a defense to ward off oral aggression. These patients 'eat interpretations'; for them interpretations are not likely to promote growth of the ego. The analyst is most likely to be made aware of this use of interpretations by his own affective responses to the patient. This pattern manifests itself more clearly in form than in content. The technical problem posed by such a pattern may be approached first by withholding interpretation of content, a deprivation that will arouse mounting tension. The analyst is then able to point out the patient's reaction to deprivation and connect it with other familiar feelings of discomfort in the patient's life. Such interpretations of form will often make it possible for the patient to develop a greater tolerance for tension and to postpone gratification. The patient's ego has been fed just enough to keep it at work. It may now begin to produce dreams, affects, and old defenses, and all these may be used for the analysis. An illustrative case is presented.