The place of erotic transference and countertransference in clinical practice

Patients who express intense, erotic attraction to their therapists pose special treatment challenges that may not respond well to the interpretative effects of the therapist. The wish that the therapist demonstrate love for the patient and the therapists' own erotic feelings toward such patients can create misalliances as well difficult technical moments. Furthermore, some patients expressing their love for their therapist may have physiological manifestations while others would not. At the same time, therapists may not experience erotic feelings toward the patients' expressions of love. The purpose of this paper is to try to answer the following questions: How do we conceptualize our patients' erotic manifestations? Are those expressions of Oedipal or preoedipal pathology? What are the countertransference reactions of the analyst? Two clinical examples will highlight these issues.