Does psychoanalysis really mean oppression? Harnessing psychodynamic approaches to affirmative therapy with gay men

Freud's attitude toward homosexuals was overwhelmingly progressive for his time. In contrast, during the early forties, psychoanalysis began to adopt a more pessimistic view about the mental health of homosexuals. This article describes a psychodynamic model of affirmative psychotherapy for gay men. Special note is made of the clinical issues, which arise from antihomosexual attitudes that influence the psychological development of the homosexual male. In particular, the way in which identity formation is affected by heterosexual socialization is discussed. The psychotherapeutic implications associated with these developmental complications are pointed out as well.