Erotic Countertransference: Afternoon Delight Or The .
Erotic Countertransference: Afternoon Delightor the Radical Search for Truth?Alexandra Katehakis, MFT, CST, CSATSASH Conference, Austin, TXSeptember 23, 2016www.thecenterforhealthysex.com
Sexualized Transference Sexualized transference: Is simple andstraightforward; client has an expressed interest inhaving sex with the therapist, not necessarily anerotic relationship (Celenza, 2014) Sexualized transferences can be elaborated intoerotic transference when the therapist explores theclient’s fantasies in relation to having sex with thetherapist SA’s sexualize their therapist’s ALL THE TIME!www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
What to process What is your client desiring? What is the client expressing when they sexualize orfall in love with the therapist? Sexualizing can be a way to avoid expressingvulnerabilities; a diversion from deep pain What underlies sexualizing? Rage, separation, lossdesire to destroy, envy, deep need for love, longingfor attachment, etc.www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Erotic Countertransference Erotic countertransferencewas once thought to be aproduct of unconscious andconscious emotionalreactions and fantasies ofthe therapist in relation tothe patient. These covert eroticexperiences wereconsidered unresolvedissues in the therapist and ahindrance to treatment.www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Erotic Transference Erotic transference: ismore complex thansexualization, It involvesthe client’s private, eroticfantasies of the therapist(Bollas, 1994; Mann, 1997) Embodied intimacy(Celenza, 2014)www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
What does “erotic” mean? Any desire for skin to skin contact, touching,sucking, licking and the desire to ultimate merge; tobe inside the other. These things are a part of whathappens in early infancy. (Celenza, 2014) These things are an integral part of lovemaking Erotic transference can evoke feelings of lust andlove in both members of the therapeutic dyad.www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Interpenetrating subjectivities A more modernunderstanding ofcountertransference is thatboth patient and therapistare mutually influenced byone another. Both party’s subjectivitiesinterpenetrate to createnatural, reciprocalresponses necessary toeffective therapy.www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
“Erotic transferences should make theirway into every therapy at some point”Celenza, 2014 Working with issues ofsex and sexualitymakes the therapistsusceptible toinevitable eroticexchanges with thepatient.www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Therapist’s blind spots If this isn’t happening,there’s a blind spot in thetherapy, no matter thegenders. What are your blind spots? What measures does thetherapist go to to avoidthreatening behavior? Why is there an absence ofsexual desire with aparticular patient?www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Other questions to ask Why does the patient fail to arouse the therapist andhow is that related to treatment issues? Can you move the sexual transference into an eroticone (i.e. what is the patient desiring when they’reexpressing sexualized love?) When the dyad work through the fantasies, longing,etc. by the patient, how does the therapist deal withhis or her loss of flattering attention? What happens when the patient desexualizes thetherapist?www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
What about feelings of love? Examining the range of ourcountertransferenceincludes the erotic andfeelings of love. How do we manage and usefeelings of erotic energy andwhat do we do with theabsence of erotic energy? Most of us are relieved andhope it never shows up, orworse yet, we don’t evenrealize it’s not present.www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
How are the transference/countertransference elicited? Implicitly/unconsciously Upon examination of the patient’s erotic template indetail When eliciting sexual details in service of seeing theattractor patterns from the past, play out in thepresent. This IS what trauma looks like in SA’s and,sometimes in their partners. How do these eroticized encounters impact you?What images bodily sensations, judgments, andfeelings are evoked?www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
How are the transference/countertransference elicited? How do you use thismaterial in thetherapy? What effect does ithave on yourrelationship with thepatient?www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
How vulnerable do you get? What parts of thepatient are disavowed? Which parts of thetherapist aredisavowed? What does it mean toreveal yourself?www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Signs of ECT in the therapy Feeling motherly or fatherly; protective – these arebodily-based feelings Making special accommodations Flexing boundaries Feeling aroused (bodily-based) Mild dissociation (so as not to have to deal with yourfeelings) Dislike of patient but intrigued by his/her behavior Eliciting sexual details for no good reason(voyeuristic)www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Signs of ECT in the therapy Feelings of love and empathy Feelings of power and control; becoming withholding(patient’s dependency, or feeling like s/he wantssomething from you) Feeling confused or paralyzed Female therapist’s tend to collude with malepatients’ fears of their sexuality and aggression byacquiescing when they make a move to leavetherapy. (Celenza, 2014)www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Some typical scenarios of erotictransference/countertransference Client is attracted to you,you're not attracted to client Therapist is attracted toclient, but client gives nohint of being attracted totherapist Client is attracted totherapist, therapist isattracted to client Client seems to beunwittingly seductivetowards therapist www.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Typical scenarios, cont’d. Client is overtlyseductive towards thetherapist Client discloses feelingsof love or attractiontowards therapist Therapist self-disclosesfeelings of love orattraction towards clientwww.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Common symptoms of ECT Obsession about patient Wondering/worrying about how you look Changing how you dress on the day you see theclient Changing your routine on the day you see the client Feeling slightly elated when you receive a text, emailor call Thinking about or ruminating whether he/she shouldstay in his/her relationship or not Getting triangulated into the marriagewww.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
What affect does working with sex andsexuality have on your sex life? You have intrusive fantasies about your client duringsex with your partner You dream about your client You are averse to sex with your partner You get confused about what you do and don’t likesexually, not sure what’s okay with you any more You dread sex You want to try new and varied things with youpartner having learned novel sexual acts/experienceswww.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Process ECT in therapy “Therapist’s have a phobic dread of erotictransference and countertransference” (Davis, 1998;Celenza, 21014) Ease with erotic discourse and language is crucial(Celenza, 2014) Judicious and tactful disclosure of ec can facilitatethe treatment (Lijtmaer, 2004); ECT must keep thefocus on the patient Context for disclosure of ECT is everythingwww.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Process ECT in therapy “the challenge for each of us is to express thepassionate response in a manner that is usable byeach patient” (Hoffman, 2009) It should serve the therapy; perhaps it serves tobreak a therapeutic impasse Green light when patient surmises that therapist haserotic feelings, this is an indication of his strength Always seek consultation firstwww.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Sex Addiction As Affect Dysregulation NortonSeries onInterpersonalNeurobiology Available at theSASHbookstorewww.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Sex.com
Making Advances Winner of the2013 ClarkVincent Awardhonoring itsliterarycontribution tothe fieldwww.TheCenterForHealthySex.com
Erotic countertransference was once thought to be a product of unconscious and conscious emotional reactions and fantasies of the therapist in relation to the patient. These covert erotic experiences were considered unresolved issues in the therapist and a hindrance to treatment. Erotic Countertransference
erotic. To narrow the topic yet further, I will examine it within the Islamic tradition only. I will look briefly at sample instances of the erotic in a few different religions and then will examine in greater depth the erotic in Sufism. The theme of the erotic within religion can be, pardon the pun, a touchy one. On the one
THE EROTIC LIFE OF RACISMOF RACISM EROTIC LIFE THE Sharon Patricia Holland THE EROTIC LIFE OF RACISM Sharon Patricia Holland DUKE A major intervention in the fields of critical race theory, black feminism, and queer theory, The Erotic Life of Racism contends that theoretical and political analyses of race have largely failed to understand and describe the profound ordinariness of racism
strength of the erotic into a true knowledge, for what that means is the first and most powerful guiding light toward any understanding. And understanding is a handmaiden which can only wait upon, or clarify, that knowledge, deeply born. The erotic is the nurturer or nursemaid of all our deepest knowledge.
strength of the erotic into a true knowledge, for what that means is the first and most powerful guiding light toward any understanding. And understanding is a handmaiden which can only wait upon, or clarify, that knowledge, deeply born. The erotic is the nurturer or nursemaid of all our deepest knowledge. The erotic functions for me in several .
amazingly erotic scenes: it is easily, therefore, to imagine the development of taste amongst the uneducated masses 4. These ideas supplied by Kiefer give us another idea of the possibilities of things that could have happened at the theatre. And while I agree that erotic scenes may have
sudden slober cuddle What change is needed, if any? My favorite book is afternoon on the amazon. A. change afternoon on the amazon to Afternoon On The Amazon B. change afternoon on the amazon to Afternoon On the Amazon C. change afternoon on the amazon to Afternoon on the Amazon Challenge: Choose one box above. On the back, write your own
Day 10:00 AM 11:00 AM 45 minutes "Into the Community" 45 minutes "Into the Community" 45 minutes "Into the Community" 45 minutes "Into the Community" 12:00 PM Afternoon Afternoon Afternoon Afternoon Afternoon Afternoon Afternoon 1:00 PM Kayak OR Surfing session Discussion about weathe
well as themes from PALS enquiries and formal complaints received within Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust during 2018. Patient experience monthly reports are provided to operational teams and patient comments are automatically shared with our staff. Leaders of our clinical services use the feedback we receive from patients to shape quality improvement activities at ward level and see whether .
