ABSTRACT
This chapter describes masturbation as a sexually enacted fantasy of the self. The core sexual fantasy may be enacted only partially with another but is fully enacted in masturbation because it is totally under the control of the person. The fantasy and its timing within the lust cycle is controllable. Here is where the personality dynamics and the attachment traumas are most clearly depicted because they do not have to be diluted by the reality of the other person. Here is where the story of the sexual encounter and therefore the story of attachment and its problems and therefore the story of personality and its neurotic adaptations, is most clearly seen. The story: its script, its sequence, its dramatis personae, its conflicts, its emotional constituents and its means of ultimate satisfaction, are all clearly revealed in the masturbation fantasy. Here is where the meaning of the lustful sensory details is most dramatic. Here is where the acceleration points of the fantasy can be seen in their linkage to specific anatomic details and specific sexual behaviors. There is revealed the meaning of these details. Numerous clinical examples are given.
