Interpretation itself has several phases, corresponding to the beginning phase of therapy. During interpretation, patient and therapist work to understand the nature of the patient's disturbed object relationships by the "unconscious meanings of their behavior in their transferential relationship with the therapist" (McGinn, 1998, p. 192) the first phase of interpretation is a time for exploration and free association; at this point, the patient is expressing and the therapist is formulating the meanings of those expressions in terms of object relations. This is followed by an "empathic confrontation," in which the therapist gently guides the patient's maladaptive unconscious object relations into consciousness. Once the patient is conscious of his behaviors, the final phase of interpretation can take place, which is sometimes called a "genetic interpretation" (McGinn, 1998, p. 192). This is when the therapist "uses his interpretations of the current relationship between himself and the patient and links it to...
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