Psychotherapy An Erotic Relationship

Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship challenges the traditional belief that transference and countertransference are merely forms of resistance that jeopardize the therapeutic process. David Mann shows how the erotic feelings and fantasies experienced by clients and therapists can be used to bring about a positive transformation. Combining extensive and lively clinical examples with theoretical insights and new research on infants, David Mann suggests that the development of the erotic derives from interactions between the parent and child and is seldom absent from the therapist-patient relationship. However, while the erotic always contains elements of past relationships, it also expresses hope for a different outcome in the present and future. Individual chapters explore the function of the erotic within the unconscious: erotic pre-Oedipal and Oedipal material; homoeroticism in therapy; sexual intercourse as a metaphor for psychological change; the primal scene in the transference, and the difficulties of working with perversions. The book is as relevant now as it was when originally published. This Classic Edition contains a new introduction by David Mann, summarizing his current ideas since this book was first published in 1997. It brings the therapy setting alive, offering clinicians both an accessible and deeper understanding of the interaction between erotic transference and countertransference; it also gives an explicit picture of how these aspects of therapy can be used to enhance the therapeutic process. It remains an essential resource for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists and counsellors, their clients and anybody with an interest in Eros, desire, or mental health issues.

Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship challenges the traditional belief that transference and countertransference are merely forms of resistance which jeopardize the therapeutic process. David Mann shows how the erotic feelings and fantasies experienced by clients and therapists can be used to bring about a positive transformation. Combining extensive clinical material with theoretical insights and new research on infants, the author traces erotic development back to the parent-child relationship, drawing parallels between this relationship and the therapist/client dyad. 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.

Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship offers practitioners a deeper understanding of the interaction between transference and countertrans- ference and shows how these problematic aspects of therapy can enhance the therapeutic process.

In this provocative volume, Dr. Florence W. Rosiello addresses erotic dynamics in the treatment relationship within the context of a two-person therapy, emphasizing the necessity of mutuality and emotional reciprocity between patient and therapist. With rich clinical illustrations, she demonstrates how the intimacy created by working within the sexual dimension of the therapeutic relationship may present opportunities for insight and growth that could easily be missed if one seeks to avoid these highly charged issues. Focusing on those patients who are predisposed to relating to others in a sexualized manner, Dr. Rosiello has discovered that mutual exploration of both the therapist's and the patient's subjective experience offers a valuable and effective means of enhancing the treatment.

Erotic Transference and Countertransference brings together, for the first time, contemporary views on how psychotherapists and analysts work with and think about the erotic in therapeutic practice. Representing a broad spectrum of psychoanalytic perspectives, including object relations, Kleinian, Jungian and Lacanian thought, the contributors highlight similarities and differences in their approaches to the erotic in transference and countertransference, ranging from love and sexual desire to perverse and psychotic manifestations. Erotic Transferenceand Countertransference offers ways of understanding the erotic which should prove both useful and thought-provoking.

Working with Sexual Attraction in Psychotherapy Practice and Supervision addresses some of the challenges associated with sexual attraction in psychotherapy practice and supervision, as well as within services, and helps therapists, supervisors, and managers to navigate them with openness and self-reflection. The book focuses on practical and applied issues, using a relational humanistic-integrative theoretical approach as a backdrop for understanding. Split into three parts, it deals with issues related to clinical practice, supervision and ethical issues. Chapters support in-depth exploration in all three arenas of practice and are completed by editors providing a reflective summary. Enriched with case examples and research written by senior relational practitioners, the book will be beneficial to therapists, supervisors, and service managers in the field of psychotherapy.

This book addresses training, supervisory, and therapeutic issues related to the consequences from sexual boundary violations among mental health professionals and clergy. These problems are discussed on theoretical and practical levels aimed at understanding, recovery, rehabi...

Therapist. In fact, as she shows, feelings of love and attraction do not disappear simply because they are forbidden. Describing the famous and infamous liaisons of such figures as Carl Jung, Anton Mesmer, Otto Rank, and others, Baur offers irrefutable evidence that intimacy has played a part in therapy since the beginning and continues to barge in despite regulations to suppress it. With a plea for common sense and open-minded discussion, she makes a powerful argument.

The Dying Patient in Psychotherapy is a powerful account of love and death within a psychotherapeutic relationship. The narrative traces one man’s journey in psychotherapy and that of the analyst who accompanies him. The full-length description of an analysis demonstrates the developmental path of an erotic transference from its origins in infancy, through fantasies of sex and violence to mature erotic intimacy. The countertransference is considered with exceptional honesty as the analysis intensifies following the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness. A series of dreams rich in symbolic imagery traces the psychological situation as death approaches. A precursor to Schaverien’s acclaimed book Boarding School Syndrome, the single case study demonstrates the enduring impact of early boarding. This second edition also includes an updated literature review, and new material regarding training and supervision, making it a valuable resource for training institutions. The Dying Patient in Psychotherapy will be essential reading for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, counsellors, arts therapists and all professionals working with the dying. The poignant story will also engage the general reader, curious about the process of psychotherapy.

Sex Therapy with Erotically Marginalized Clients: Nine Principles of Clinical Support provides a clinical guide to relational sex therapy with individuals, partnerships, polyships, and alternative family structures where one or more of the clients are erotically marginalized. This term refers to people who are at risk of being pathologized and oppressed both outside and inside the clinical setting due to their gender identities, sexual orientations, or sexual practices. The book outlines nine principles for therapeutic practice which meet the needs of erotically marginalized clients, whose forms of sexuality and desire are rarely spoken about and for whom there is a dearth of language in therapeutic contexts. Each principle concludes with a series of ‘key points’ and then followed by illustrative clinical case studies, contributed by sex therapists and clinicians who self-identify as erotically marginalized and who also work with erotically marginalized clients. The book also provides a full glossary, ‘Defining Erotically Marginalized Identities’. The authors and case contributors use a radical and affirming lens to examine erotically marginalized identities that are often neglected. The book bridges gaps between the past, present, and future in the field of sex therapy and greatly expands the diversity of experiences and identities within the field, particularly the experience of multiple oppressions. The book marks a valuable contribution not only to sex therapists but to the wider clinical and therapeutic community.