From the first moment of the patient's telling his story -- or not telling
it, for that matter -- the therapist has access to two potent sources of
dynamic information: the content of the story, manifest and latent, and
the interactive process between herself and the patient. Taking whatever
the patient offers, the therapist uses it as the starting point of a dynamic
interaction. The schema of the three triangles helps the clinician remain
oriented in the thicket of clinical material. She can categorize emerg-
ing clinical material as defense, signal affect, or genuine emotional
experience and then aim specific interventions at that phenomenon.
The therapist also can see the different defense, signal affect and core
affect constellations that underlie particular self states and self-other pat-
terns. Finally, she can explore "the genetic and adaptive relevance" of
these patterns ( Mann & Goldman, 1982): where they arose, other situ-
ations in which they operate, and -- a particular emphasis in AEDP --
those in which they do not. The moment-to-moment translation of
patient material into the categories of the triangle of conflict is equally
useful for rapid assessment of the impact of a given intervention (e.g.,
Did it make the patient more or less defensive? Did it lead to greater or

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