ABSTRACT
For the heterosexual analyst, the analytic work with a homosexual patient can create some countertransferential difficulties, contributed to in part by his or her cultural representations about gender differences and requires their working through. As Ralph Roughton underlines, the analyst has to work with his assumptions and beliefs about what is sexually normative and be aware of his prejudices against homosexuality. In the case of a woman, separation and differentiation from the mother are necessary to experience the object with pleasure and, of course, the erotic object, be it heterosexual or homosexual. The homosexuality of Palerm's patient seemed to be a means of not entering into competition with the mother. The female partners served as a narcissistic mirror, a function that is essential during adolescence. Infantile sexuality and the prohibition of incest contribute to this impossibility.
