Vicissitudes of the Erotized Transference: The Impact of Aggression*

There is little in the psychoanalytic literature on the erotized transferences which develop in analyses of male patients treated by female analysts. The classic example of such a case was reported in 1936 by Grete Bibring-Lehner (1956). Few later clinical examples of this transference phenomenon have been published. In fact, there is a 49 year gap before the next published report of an erotized transference appears in the literature. Lester (1985, 1989), Goldberger and Evans (1985), and Torras de Beà (1987) have reported clinical vignettes which deal with this issue. Some recent contributions (Lester, 1985, 1989) suggest that female analysts do not obtain erotized transferences and only obtain limited erotic transferences from their male patients.

This article will explore the concept of the erotized transference by focusing on sexual as well as aggressive components and using clinical illustrations. Given that the gender of the analyst is usually not the crucial factor in the development of the transference, the scarcity of published reports of male patients with such transferences to their female analysts needs exploration. I will attempt to examine this dearth of publications.

In brief, the erotized transference is a subspecies of the erotic transference, falling at the extreme end of the phenomenon. One of the most noteworthy features is the ego syntonic quality of the transference. The patient often evidences little discomfort, embarrassment or shame as incessant and insatiable demands for physical gratification from the analyst are expressed with the expectation that