ABSTRACT
This case illustrates a number of issues discussed in this volume and the clinical literature in general; straight or gay therapist; the traumatic loss of a partner to AIDS and its intrapsychic consequences; the manner in which various personalities experience and defend against what has come to be called internalized homophobia; working with an erotized transference; the role of sexualization in the maintenance of the self; and letting the transferences be our guide when faced with a very complicated patient. This case was originally for discussion by a panel, hence the clinical process is emphasized over my formulations though they come through in the way the material is handled and interpreted. The write up is a summary of the unfolding of the first 10 months of treatment, hopefully conveying how the patient and I got to the point of beginning to engage highly traumatized and disavowed aspects of his personality and the related challenges he poses in working more directly with transference material.
