Hermeneutics in a medical center.

By focusing onhermeneutics anddialogue, this article clarifies the distinctive contribution that pastoral and psychotherapeutic interventions have to make in the healing process. It is shown how the hermeneutical process discloses the meaning of events through the interpretation of texts that arise spontaneously in the lives of individuals and groups. Texts may range from individual fantasies and dreams to sacred histories recorded in scriptures. When the meaning of life events is explored in dialogue through symbolic texts, we term that process "dialogical hermeneutics." Effective dialogical hermeneutics requires the use of three techniques: (1) presence in the caring relationship, (2) dialogue toward meaning, and (3) offering alternative interpretation.