PURPOSIVE ASPECTS OF THE EROTIC TRANSFERENCE

This paper illustrates the erotic transference of a male patient towar ds his female analyst and the pressures and resistances within the tra nsference and counter-transference to act out sexually. The patient's desire to act out sexually is seen both as a form of repetition compul sion within the transference and, in its purposive aspect, as an expre ssion of the patient's need to find a loving breast and an empathic fa ther. The patient's confused sexual identity is seen as a narcissistic defence against the experience of unbearable frustration in the pre-O edipal stage. Through internalizing a new primal scene, the patient is able to separate from his past and to work through the Oedipus comple x within the transference.