title: The concept of interpretive action.
abstract: Interpretive action is understood as the analyst's use of action (other than verbally symbolic speech) to convey to the analysand specific aspects of the analyst's understanding of the transference-countertransference which cannot at that juncture in the analysis be conveyed by the semantic content of words alone. An interpretation-in-action accrues its specific symbolic meaning from the experiential context of the analytic intersubjectivity in which it is generated. The understanding of the transference-counter-transference conveyed by the analyst's interpretive action must simultaneously be silently formulated in words by the analyst. Three clinical vignettes are presented which illustrate different forms of interpretation-in-action.
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Ogden
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003379:Countertransference; D005201:Fantasy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D013850:Thinking; D014167:Transference, Psychology; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology; D014705:Verbal Behavior