The Process of Clarification

Clarifications are statements intended to expand upon and/or clarify readily available patient or therapist information. The process of clarification usually involves either the patient or therapist describing, elaborating upon, reordering, or restating material to the other party. All of these efforts are intended to facilitate mutual understanding between the patient and the therapist. After briefly describing the history of clarification in psychodynamic theory, three specific subtypes of clarifications are described with examples. These include (a) the therapist inviting the patient to clarify, (b) the therapist tentatively clarifying the patient’s communication, and (c) the therapist clarifying their own communication. Suggestions for presenting clarifications to patients are also provided.