Erotic Transference as a Social Defence

This paper broadens the phenomenon of erotic transference from the realm of the individual into the realm of the social. While erotic transference is very well discussed and documented as dynamic in the therapeutic relationship, reflection in the writing of this phenomenon in social systems is absent. This paper argues that this absence may be explained, in part, through the dominance of vertical comprehension to the interaction of the horizontal and the vertical in our social and psychological understanding (cf Miller, 2003). Individual psychotherapy invites the vertical to be dominant. In understanding dynamics in social systems, such as organizations, we need to add the lateral dimension. The erotic is discussed as a social defence (pairing) against the anxieties provoked by the complexity of a given task. As with all basic assumption groups, this defence has the potential to create destructive psychotic relationships. Working with erotic transference in consulting raises the need for a relational approach and the use of parallel process, in order to contain psychotically acted out relationships in social systems.