title: Interpretation as comparison.
abstract: Analytic subjectivity may not be the problem it seems. What is crucial for patients is not that analysts possess the objective truth, but that patients see a truth for themselves. How they accomplish this may depend on the analyst's showing them a view of themselves that differs from their own and can be compared to it. Each aspect of experience is defined by its relation to another reference point. I propose that the interpretive process is a medium for knowing one's mind in relation to that of another. This has implications for issues of analytic authority and autonomy.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Raphling
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy