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I first read Gilbert Cole's Infecting the Treatment: Being an HIV-Positive Analyst in 2003, shortly after it was published. I was pleased the following winter to find Cole scheduled for a “Meet the Author” Program at the American Psychoanalytic Association's meetings of January 2004. I felt proud that this association, of which I am a member, and its Program Committee recognized what I believe to be an important book so soon after its publication. I eagerly anticipated a lively exchange over what was surely to be a challenging and perhaps controversial topic.
My enthusiasm and pride were quickly squashed, however, when only a handful of people attended Cole's “Meet the Author” session—mostly fellow members, past and present, of the Committee on Gay and Lesbian Issues. Although we did have a lively discussion, I could not help but think of the analysts who were missing out on this opportunity and wondering why they had stayed away. Were the competing programs that much more compelling? Or was it possible that a program entitled Infecting the Treatment: Being an HIV-Positive Analyst was too anxiety provoking for our members?
I also began to wonder who the target audience was for Cole's book and, by extension, for the “Meet the Author” program. Would a book about an HIV-positive analyst be of interest only to gay and lesbian analysts? Although I believe that Cole intended the book for a more general audience, I concluded that gay and lesbian analysts and therapists would likely represent the vast majority of clinicians who would take it upon themselves to read it. I felt this would be a most unfortunate fate for this daring and compelling contribution.