The erotic is at the centre of unconscious fantasy life and so stands at the heart of the psychoanalytic adventure. Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship explores the most intimate aspects of the psychoanalytic relationship - the erotic feelings or fantasies that may be felt by the patient and the therapist towards each other - and suggests that this transference and countertransference is a potentially powerful source of creative transformation. In this sensitive and thought-provoking book, David Mann examines how the erotic manifests itself in psychoanalytic practice. Making extensive use of clinical material and recent research on infants as well as theoretical insights, he suggests that the erotic nature of the unconscious of both therapist and patient have an interactive effect on each participant and on every aspect of the therapeutic process.
Covering issues such as pre-Oedipal and Oedipal material, sexual intercourse as a metaphor for psychological change, the significance of the primal scene and the importance of homoerotic transference in therapy, David Mann sees this process primarily as positive and transformational rather than solely as a form of resistance to be overcome. Psychotherapy: An Erotic Relationship offers valuable guidance to therapists and analysts seeking a deeper understanding of the erotic transference and countertransference and how it may be used productively in the therapeutic process.
