ABSTRACT
The author discusses her work with a client who experienced an obsessional, eroticized transference. Caitlin (a pseudonym) was a white, heterosexual, 36-year-old attorney who sought treatment with me to discuss unresolved issues concerning her mother's death two years previously. Caitlin said she felt relieved that the author hadn't told her to "take a hike". She also said that she understood the legalities of doctor-client sex, and repeated that she respected my boundaries. It is difficult to know whether transferring Caitlin's care represented the best treatment option. Different schools of psychotherapy have varied perspectives on the management of delusional, obsessional clients. Some schools advocate a dynamic approach to the material evoked by the erotic transference. Others recommend liberal use of third-party consultation when it appears that a therapeutic impasse has been reached. It also took longer than usual to recognize how disturbed Caitlin was, because she concealed her pathology behind an intelligent, sophisticated exterior.
