Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship: Transference and Countertransference Passions
By addebook • Sep 8th, 2008 • Category: Medicine
Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship: Transference and Countertransference Passions
Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship: Transference and Countertransference Passions
By David Mann
Publisher: Routledge
Number Of Pages: 212
Publication Date: 1997-03-13
ISBN-10 / ASIN: 0415148510
ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780415148511
Binding: Hardcover
Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship explores the most intimate elements of the psychoanalytical relationship–the erotic feelings and fantasies that patients and therapists often experience towards one another. David Mann challenges the traditional view that transference and countertransference are forms of resistance which threaten the therapeutic process and argues that they are potentially a powerful source of creative transformation.
Making use of clinical material, theoretical insights and new research on infants, Mann traces erotic development back to the parent-child relationship. Drawing parallels between this relationship and the therapist/client dyad, he explains how the parent and therapist alike experience a range of erotic responses which correspond to relevant stimulus from the infant or patient. Individual chapters explore the function of the erotic within the unconscious, pre-Oedipal and Oedipal material, homoeroticism in therapy, sexual intercourse as a metaphor for psychological change, the primal scene and the difficulties of working with perversions.
Summary: An excellent and thorough book.
Rating: 5
Mann writes, “It is my proposition that the emergence of the erotic transference signifies the patients deepest wish for growth. Like those in love, patients wish to be known and understood, to change what they do not like about themselves, to alter what makes them unlovable. Through the erotic light is shone on the deepest recesses of the psyche…The erotic transference, therefore, is the most powerful and positive quality in the therapeutic process. The development of the erotic transference is a major transitional stage in which the repetitive and transformational desire of the patient’s unconscious meet at a passionate junction. The heart of the unconscious is visible in all it’s ‘elemental passion’, and in so opening allows for the prospect of transformation and psychic growth.”
Upon stating this thesis the author then methodically proceeds to offer evidence in a thorough review of the literature and in some very interesting case studies. He actually served as the therapist for a man who killed his father and married his mother, Oedipus incarnate! Mann is very eloquent and I believe he contributes greatly to the discussion on transference.
Summary: Review
Rating: 5
I very much enjoyed this book, which takes the reader beyond the classical view that erotic transference and countertransference signal forms of resistance, and instead looks at the inherent sensuality and sexuality in the therapy couple, and how this can be understood and worked with to effect transformation. David Mann takes us on a journey of the erotic, of love, showing us how this is at the basis of everything within us, and thus also at the basis of the therapy relationship.
Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.
Related Posts
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
