Interpretation, self-acceptance and new relational experience: the sources of therapeutic change in psychoanalysis and the ways in which some unexamined hypotheses of analytic practice can prevent them

Key words: interpretation, corrective emotional experience, insight

The interpretation and the corrective emotional experience are complementary therapeutic factors. The effectiveness of the interpretation relies hugely on the therapist’s accepting stance, encouraging the patient to accept rejected parts of the Self. Such relational view incorporates support and exploration, corrective emotional experience and insight. On the contrary, psychoanalytic interpretations are too often conveyed through a judgmental, adversarial style, which hinders therapeutic changes instead of facilitating them.