ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on transitional and defensive internet use among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) adolescents and adults. It describes the growing conversation of Internet-age dynamics within the analytic community and discusses the working analytically with LGBTQ patients in ways that move beyond binary and heteronormative assumptions regarding gender and sexuality. Internet use can also be defensive, characterized by idealized or false self-presentation, psychic splits and disembodiment, social isolation, and the derailment of authentic relational engagement in real life. The quality of internet use, whether transitional or defensive, is informed by the internal object relations of the user and by how that world is enacted online. While family is the primary carrier of culture, the growing accessibility of the internet, particularly through hand-held devices, gives the “old hierarchy” of the family system a run for its money when it comes to the role of culture carrier.
