Back to Previous Page Courses Interpersonal theory rests upon a broad framework of implicit and explicit premises which departed from the psychoanalysis of its day and which continue to reflect its unique contribution to the current psychoanalytic movement. One's experience, acquired in the context of the individual's interactions with others, becomes the focus of analytic inquiry. Central to interpersonal analysis is the direct engagement of analyst and patient in their actual and immediate experience of each other. Interpersonal theory posits a variety of influences that produce diverse and individualizing effects upon the person. However, we make no assumptions about any preordained event or constellation of events as being primary determinants of experience. In this way, the uniqueness of each patient, each therapist, and each analytic dyad is emphasized. We place great importance on an understanding of character formation through an exploration of the interplay of interpersonal interaction with the social and cultural factors that provide the context in which this interaction is embedded.