In recent decades the relationship between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy has been a focal point for debate about the distinctiveness of analysis as a particular kind of therapeutic enterprise. In Interpretation and Interaction, Jerome Oremland invokes the interventions of "interpretation" and "interaction," rooted in the values of understanding and amelioration, respectively, as a conceptual basis for reappraising these important issues. In place of the commonly accepted triadic division among psychoanalysis, exploratory psychotherapy, and supportive psychotherapy, he proposes a new triad: psychoanalysis, psychoanalytically-oriented psychotherapy, and interactive psychotherapy. Anchoring his classification in what he terms the "orientation of the therapy" rather than the "orientation of the therapist," Oremland submits that analysis and psychoanalytically-oriented psychotherapy strive systematically to interpret the therapeutic interaction as expressed in the transference. Interactive psychotherapy, on the other hand, uses the transference selectively to ameliorate psychic stress. Interpretation and Interaction is enriched by a concluding chapter from Merton Gill, a preeminent authority on the therapeutic process. Gill's critical appreciation of Oremland's proposals amounts to an illuminating refinement of his own position on the relationship between psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Scholarly in conception, thoughtful in tone, and pragmatic in yield, Interpretation and Interaction is a clarifying addition to the psychoanalytic theory of psychotherapy. It will have the practical consequence, in Gill's words, of "aiding clinicians in retaining their analytic identities and their analytic orientation across the spectrum of their therapeutic work."

The author provides glimpses of portals for discovering the wonders of the human spirit. Spanning six decades, the book reveals the excitement and personal fulfillment that comes from openness to experiences. Moving from the cold, vast isolation of Wyoming's ranching life, the author, through enduring realizations as a perceptive world traveler, emerges as a sophisticated observer of people, cultures, and aesthetics. His enthusiasm for the adventurous aspects of life takes the reader through time and space to some of the most enchanting places and exotic events in the world. Adolescent experiencing of Wyoming of the 1930's emerges into heart-warming stories about post-war Japan.
A brief look into the mind of a young psychiatrist alone and frightened with a widely psychotic man blends with frightening adventures in Communist Yugoslavia and the southern Jordanian desert. A visit on the scaffolding in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel during the restoration of Michelangelo's masterpiece interplays with the richness of dance and temple life in Southeast Asia and a princely wedding in India. In the volume the narratives become a medley of serendipity, humor, telling pathos, the enjoyment of difference, and a testimony to the gifts that human encounters offer. The author's wonderment about events that happen takes him on a brief exploration of the origins and the sense of the uncanny, serendipity, and the awesomeness of spiritual experience.