Although clinical interpretation originated with Freud, the latter's positivist preference for purely observational methods made him ambivalent toward interpretive methods. According to Rubovits-Seitz, the legacy of Freud's positivism still pervades clinical thinking and interferes with progress in investigating and improving interpretive methods. He reviews the paradigm shift in general science from positivism to postpositivism by way of demonstrating the compatibility of interpretive inquiry with a postpositivist approach.

Post-Freudian models of clinical interpretation are evaluated, and clinical methods of interpretation are compared with interpretive approaches in nonclinical fields. A detailed discussion of the neglected problem of justifying interpretations incorporates evaluations of specific justifying procedures and a case report illustrating applications of such methods. The work concludes with a consideration of common but avoidable errors in clinical interpretation along with remedial strategies for dealing with them.

Following Depth-Psychological Understanding, clinicians may no longer take for granted the interpretive process and the accuracy of their own interpretations. Rubovits-Seitz's scholarly survey marks a major advance in comprehending the methodology of clinical interpretation and in setting forth both the problems and promise of interpretive methods.