Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 12, 2026

The Adventures of Fundi Intervention Based on the Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Patients
Published on: June 12, 2020
Desire and responsibility: the ethics of countertransference experience
1San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, CA, USA. mdwmd@comcast.net
Abstract:
The analyst's desire expressed in impactful wishes and intentions is foundational to countertransference experience, yet undertheorized in the literature. The "wider" countertransference view, associated with neo-Kleinian theory, obscures the nature of countertransference and the analyst's contribution to it. A systematic analysis of the logic of desire as an intentional mental state is presented. Racker's (1957) talion law and Lacan's (1992) theory of the dual relation illustrate the problems that obtain with a wholesale embrace of the wider countertransference perspective. The ethical burden placed on the analyst in light of the role played by desire in countertransference is substantial. Lacan's ethics of desire and Benjamin's (2004) concept of the moral third are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Humanistic Therapy
Psychodynamic Therapy
Ethical Issues
Ethical Concerns in Healthcare:
Ethical Dilemmas I
Let us explore some examples to understand the potentially complex moral decisions nurses face.
Take the case of caring for minors, particularly in areas related to reproductive...
Horney's Sociocultural Approach
Professional Values
The values that are the foundation of the nursing profession are altruism, autonomy, human dignity, and social justice.
First, altruism refers to the concern for the welfare and well-being of others without personal...

