The analysis of a male patient by a female analyst: the problem of the negative Oedipal transference

The clinical work in this paper is focused on the analysis of the negative oedipal phase of a male patient with a female analyst. Determinants of this phase are discussed. Theoretical questions are raised and propositions advanced. Transference phenomena are differentiated from the transference neurosis and the types of transferences formed according to the sex of the analyst are discussed. It is proposed that patients develop maternal transferences to analysts of both sexes, but that such transferences are limited to pre-oedipal phases for patients with male analysts. During the analysis of the oedipal phase, both positive and negative, the patient's transference is to the analyst according to the analyst's sex. A true paternal transference neurosis to a female analyst ordinarily does not occur.