1. in psychotherapy, explanation by the therapist in terms that are meaningful to the client of the client’s issues, behaviors, or feelings. Interpretation typically is made along the lines of the conceptual framework or dynamic model of the particular therapy. In psychoanalysis, for example, the analyst uses the constructs of psychoanalytic theory to interpret the patient’s early experiences, dreams, character defenses, and resistance. Although interpretation exists to some extent in almost any form of therapy, it is a critical procedural step in psychoanalysis and in other forms of psychodynamic psychotherapy.

2. an oral translation (see interpret).