ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to illustrate the various clinical forms of the erotic transference and the different ways of treating them. The erotic transference can be thought of as the two-faced Janus of analytical clinical work: it can be triggered by positive emotions that are necessary for building new shared realities or draw its nourishment from distorted, falsified constructions. The chapter considers the “unreality” of this transference, which alternates between the “dream” of love and actual delusion. The reality of the new relationship is confirmed by the observation that interpretations intended to take the patient back to the past often merely wound him just when he is relinquishing his age-old defences against affectionate experiences and turning with passion towards the analyst. However, the dream of love experienced for the first time in the analysis seems to be an initial attempt to achieve at last the emotional involvement necessary for the genuine passionate cathexis of a love object.
