ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the transformation of Michael's erotic transference that served to manage Michael's fears of his own power, aggression, and potency. For certain male analysands, an erotic transference experienced within the asymmetric power distribution of the treatment setting can engender feelings of dependency, humiliation, powerlessness, and degradation. In such cases, erotic longings can become defensively aggressivized, serving to substantiate the self in relation to the more powerful analyst. Murderous, envious, and vengeful feelings can become activated, serving to foster the illusion of becoming 'harder' or firmer in the analyst's presence. The chapter discusses the nature of the female analyst's countertransference and its potential inhibitory influence on erotic transferences in male patients. In cases of sexual boundary transgressions where the analyst is male and the analysand female, it has been reported that over 50" of the patients were actively suicidal at the time of the seduction.
