ABSTRACT
In the Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, Sigmund Freud postulated the centrality of infantile sexuality in the structuring of the human psyche, describing sexuality as a pleasure-seeking instinctual energy. The specific ways in which the conflict between sexual impulse and the demands of relatedness are negotiated from infancy to adulthood constitute, as well as give shape to, the structure of the psyche, and make human beings human. It is the singular destiny of sexuality to lie at the crossroads where body, fantasy, and emotion meet. Curiosity and excitement—staple companions of sexuality—find expression in the analytic vocation. The care invested in the setting, the quality of listening, the reliability of the analyst—all these elements enhance a process that simultaneously mobilizes and erodes repression in the analysand, and contribute to the emergence of sexual feelings. As repression becomes eroded by the analytic process, sexuality is once more in search of an object.
