On Transference Manifestations in Male Patients with Female Analysts

The transference issues that are specific to the psychoanalysis of male patients by female analysts have not been widely discussed in the literature. Most of the literature on this subject has indicated, contrary to the findings reported here, that full and intense erotic transference manifestations are rarely if ever seen in this therapeutic dyad. In order to clarify the issues, we have offered some definitions that may serve as a framework for future discussions.

We have utilized clinical examples from the psychoanalyses of five patients to illustrate certain aspects of the transference. We have demonstrated that male patients display a full range of erotic transference phenomena with female analysts and have focused attention on certain special features of these transferences. For example, in some cases it was only after considerable analysis of defences against aggression that the erotic transference manifestations emerged fully. We have also shown that paternal transferences occur regularly, though they may be difficult to elucidate until the later stages of analysis. We have paid special attention to the feared loss of maleness that attends male patients' identification with their female analysts.