Gender, Countertransference and the Erotic Transference: Perspectives from Analytical Psychology and Psychoanalysis

How do gender and sexual difference influence the erotic transference?

Gender, Countertransference and the Erotic Transference offers new insights into working with complex transference and countertransference phenomena. Including views from a wide spectrum of theoretical backgrounds, it makes a unique contribution to discourse on the themes of gender, sexuality and the erotic transference.

The contributors are highly experienced clinicians with international reputations as theorists in the fields of analytical psychology, psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Illustrated with closely observed clinical examples and detailed theoretical discussion, innovations in technique are introduced on themes including developmental mourning, female perversion, the meaning and purpose of the erotic transference, the dying patient, lesbian homoerotic transference and supervision of the erotic transference. Countertransference is vividly explored in chapters on sexual difference, the therapist’s body and the challenging topic of perversion in the analyst. The book is divided into four sections:

• gender and the erotic transference
• the erotic transference and the symbolic function
• women working with women
• historical perspectives on women working with men.

Gender, Countertransference and the Erotic Transference extends existing theory, highlighting the symbolic nature of the transference/countertransference dynamic. It will be compelling reading for experienced clinicians, students and trainees in the fields of psychoanalysis, analytical psychology and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, as well as counselling, the arts therapies and social work.

Joy Schaverien is a Professional member of the Society of Analytical Psychology in London, a Training Analyst and Supervisor of the British Association of Psychotherapists, and Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield and a member of the International Association for Analytical Psychology.