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The author argues in favor of a unitary theory of psychotherapy, decrying the splintering of our field into various schools of thought. He believes that the dual instinct theory and the notion of the centrality of the oedipus complex are no longer adequate or viable models. He sees the brain as an "information-processing, not an energy-discharging organ." Its function is to create order and meaning from the myriad stimuli impinging upon it, a capacity that results in feelings of competence, which the author sees as the basis for self-esteem and the central motivation underlying human behavior. The therapist's task is to evaluate the patient's failure to achieve competence and to maintain self-esteem, and to assist the patient to "repair the damage and, if possible, to permit development to resume." The author views the intrapsychic and the interpersonal as two indissolubly linked perspectives, which he believes Kohutian theory is capable of uniting, in its emphasis upon the impact of the caretakers' ministrations upon the "unconscious expectation(s) that then guide future behavior." Specific forms of psychopathology are viewed as derivative of specific stages during which empathic failures occurred, and may be understood in terms of the defenses that are attendant upon such empathic failures. Several clinical vignettes are presented, representing different categories of pathology, in which the author feels that his interventions focused on the patient's difficulties, without slighting either intrapsychic or interpersonal reality.