ABSTRACT
What does a psychoanalytic inquiry into the interactions between the patient’s and analyst’s gender, sexual orientation, and race look like? To answer this question, the author examines the relationship between a white gay male analyst and his straight female patient of color through the lens of intersectionality, queer theory, and relational psychoanalysis. The article describes the psychoanalytic process of moving beyond dissociated, binary modes of perceiving one’s self and the other. This interpersonal process involves acknowledging the shame- and guilt-riddled aspects of patient’s and analyst’s experiences of privilege and marginalization. The author maintains that a playful, curious, and soul-searching engagement in enactments can lead to the emergence of a transitional space in which the similarities and differences between the patient’s and analyst’s gender, race, and sexual orientation can be acknowledged, challenged, and negotiated.
