ABSTRACT
To begin our discussion of transference, let us turn to the first reported session of Nancy’s analysis, then in its second year (83:1). Nancy addresses her hurt and disappointment concerning the unavailability of her priest and, in a similar vein, her depression related to the weekend unavailability of her analyst. She mentions the stress of her exams, followed by her sexual “fantasies of being close and making love.” She then reflects about the analyst to whom she is relating these matters. She hopes for a trusting relationship, “I trust I can confide in you and talk about it and feel better.” Yet, a different, frightening percept of the analyst also emerges, creating conflict: “On the news I heard about a psychiatrist who raped his patient. Here I am bringing all this explicit sex stuff in. What kind of person are you to want to hear about it, help me with it? Isn’t there something perverse about it? What in all these cases gets out of control? The potential is there.” The analyst wears the attributions of the “rapist” to further the elaboration of in the here and now and inquires: “What you asked before, does it put me at risk for getting out of control? … That I get stirred up as a result of what you’re talking about.” Nancy reflectively replies that this is a possibility and that he (the analyst) has to do something with his pleasure and excitement. Reiterating her hope and fear, she declares, “If I entrust myself to you, I want to know you are able to deal with the stuff I bring up. I’m selfish—you could get out of control, or get deadened, unable to empathize.” She then relates this frightening percept of the analyst to her experience of her father: “My relationship with you—I think of you as my dad. I was very close to him. I had to deal with feelings that would creep up. I have to deal with my own feelings about you—regardless of anything else. I’m aware of strongly stifling my curiosity about your life, desk, car—far removed from you personally … You represent a verboten character.”
