This article proposes a systematic way of thinking about communication problems between providers and consumers of psychological information.The specific focus is on the assessment situation, but the article -also emphasizes the applicability of the principles and issues discussed to nonclinical areas. In particular, this article views problems in 'communication as diagnostic issues to be understood rather than as unfortunate irritants. Such difficulties can be due to the dynamics of the client (be it a person, an organization, or a segment of the public), differences in training and viewpoint between provider and consumer, and confusion and mistaken assumptions about the role of the psychologist. The article stresses the special importance for the psychologist to include as part of his or her task an internal re-creation of both the client's and the consumer-colleague's inner experience. The author gives examples that illustrate how this internal attunement can facilitate better acceptance and implementation of the psychological information.

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A dialogue ensues between an advocate of traditional psychoanalytic psychotherapy and a proponent of some newer therapeutic modalities-specifically, encounter groups, behavior modification, and primal (scream) therapy. The two speakers begin by agreeing on various important sources of mutual prejudice that might color their discussion. From their respective vantage points, they then raise issues concerning the nature of the relationship between patient and therapist; the techniques employed; the role of abreaction; the importance of diagnosis; and the place of thought and feeling, and of action and experience. They become aware that their dialogue, at times, has turned into a debate, and they end by avoiding the more typical divisiveness and instead agreeing on the need for integration of their dijerent viewpoints.

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