The psychodynamics of a beating fantasy

A case history of a woman is presented whose primary conscious masturbatory fantasy from age three until age forty was of her father beating her. Late in her lengthy treatment, the conscious fantasy was seen to screen off the underlying, unconscious fantasy of being beaten by her mother. Early traumata, surgery, and primal scene exposures led to profound separation-individuation problems, heightened preoedipal and oedipal castration anxiety, and a faulty genital schematization. Compulsive masturbation, duplicating genital arousal initiated by the mother's early enema assaults and later by primal scene exposures, allowed neutralization of the intense aggression aroused by separation and castration traumata. Preoedipal fantasies screened off from conscious awareness by the oedipal ones were influenced by the primal scene exposures. These consisted of the ideas of being hurt (castrated) and beaten by the father. In the lengthy therapy with this patient an erotized transference developed in which, again, a libidinal gratification was used defensively to maintain the threatened object relationship. The interaction between beating fantasies and reality events is also discussed.