Studies in countertransference and gender: female analyst/male patient in two cases of childhood trauma.
The paternal transference and the erotic transference have been singled out in the literature as more problematic for women analysts with male patients. Two clinical cases provide evidence for their appearance indicating that the reactions they trigger in women may explain the difficulties in their recognition and interpretation. In these particular cases, the author analyzes her counterresistance to a projected narcissistic, cruel father object and her defense of masochistic submission, following more stereotypical gender lines. And in the case of an eroticized transference, the fears of a symbiotic and incestuous merger made more difficult the elucidation of the complex transference reaction. The hypothesis is forwarded that cultural prohibitions are partly responsible for the lack of recognition of these transferences and for the challenging countertransference that they elicit.
Bernardez
Teresa
T
The Michigan Psychoanalytic Council, USA.
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003379:Countertransference; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*