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My thesis here is that interpretation is useful to the extent that it contributes to the patient's working to disprove the unconscious beliefs that underlie his psychopathology. These beliefs are grim and maladaptive. They warn the patient that if he pursues certain normal, desirable goals he will put himself in danger. Therefore they hinder him in the pursuit of these goals. For example, the male's unconscious belief in castration as a punishment may impede him in the pursuit of a good sexual relationship. Interpretation helps the patient to gain insight into the maladaptive beliefs and the forbidden goals, thereby facilitating his working to disprove the beliefs and pursue the goals.
The ideas summarized above are part of a psychoanalytic theory of the mind, psychopathology, and therapy that I developed and that the Mt. Zion Psychotherapy Research Group, which I codirect with Harold Sampson, has been investigating for the last 20 years (Weiss et al., 1986). The Mt. Zion Group carries out its studies by formal quantitative methods, using the transcripts of psychoanalyses and psychoanalytic psychotherapies. It has completed several investigations on how interpretation influences the patient, which will be discussed below (Castan, in Weiss et al 1986; Bush and Gassner, in Weiss et al 1986; Fretter, 1984, Broitman, 1985; Norville, 1990). The findings support our theory and throw light on the role of interpretation.