ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author examines bridges that have developed between patient and analyst, but primarily from the point of view of the nature and the quality of the analyst’s involvement. She provides a discussion of the Graeco-theological concepts of Agape and Eros. The discussion of the Graeco-theological concepts of Agape and Eros, as the two names denoting two different forms of love, would enrich the understanding of the complexities, the vicissitudes, and the vagaries of the countertransference. Becoming clearer and more aware of these two types of loving may help decrease the danger of their being confused—either by the therapist or by the patient. The Agape-Eros theme may also underpin the analyst-therapist’s trust in his capacity to resist the temptation to act out, and this may enable him to feel and to submit to the powerful and at times almost overwhelming feelings evoked in the counter-transference.
