Stance, Set, Transference: The Differentiation of Two Modes of Clinical Technique.

Comparative approaches to psychoanalytic theory are a major source of exposure to different theoretical orientations and clinical technique. However, it is not always clear what the analyst actually does when translating theory into practice. As an attempt at clarification, descriptions are provided of two listening stances or attentional sets that are associated with different modes of analytic listening. These modes reside at a relatively low level of abstraction and are experience-near. The two listening stances are (1) a directed attentional set aimed at the identification of conscious or unconscious repetitious patterns, and (2) a diffuse attentional set receptive to emergent phenomena for the purpose of elaborating unconscious fantasy. These listening modes are combined in everyday practice and usually occur in an oscillating fashion; thus, separation of these listening modes in this discussion is for heuristic purposes. At the same time, these modes are prioritized differently among various theoretical models depending on the analyst's intention and goals. They also can be correlated with different types of transferences, evoking different types of clinical material that correspond to the analyst's goals and/or to phases in treatment. Because these attentional modes are governed by different neurophysiological substrates, it is helpful for analysts to have these modes clearly differentiated in their minds, even though engaging these modes tends to be spontaneous and rapidly oscillating. Two clinical vignettes are provided that illustrate the use of these two modes of listening where one or the other is prioritized.

Maternal Erotic Transferences and the Work of the Abject.

Kristeva's profound and comprehensive understanding of maternal eroticism allows us to examine the ways in which a negative maternal transference, structured through the work of the abject, can be viewed as a maternal erotic transference in its devitalizing form. Through the use of a clinical case, the revitalizing experiences of maternal eroticism within analytic process facilitate the emergence of a maternal erotic transference in its vitalizing form. The lack of erotic dimensions in maternal transferences, it is argued, may be viewed as present absences, and the development of a positive maternal erotic transference as an achievement. André Green's visual-spatial metaphor of foreclosed space is extended as an imploding force wherein abject signifiers do their devitalizing work. In contrast, the usable space of a healthy psychoanalytic process is viewed as the envelope around which abject signifiers emerge, becoming available for psychoanalytic work. A transformation related to the author's experiences with her dying mother is shown to have expanded her containing capacities, including new areas of patience and receptivity. These dynamics are placed within the context of a multiverse conception of maternal eroticism, including the analyst's disciplined receptivity, viewed as an eternal signifier of the maternal.

The threat of male-to-female erotic transference.

Vignettes from an ongoing psychoanalysis with a patient, Michael, are presented to illustrate the various dimensions of the erotic transference at different phases of the treatment. The relation to power, the experience and expression of aggression, how these may be organized by gender, and the female analyst's countertransference are discussed as potentially fostering or inhibitory in the development of an erotic transference. Traditional sociocultural gender stereotypes kept alive in fantasy can cause female analysts to subtly foreclose the impending threat of an intense erotic transference with male analysands due to a fear of outwardly directed male aggression. It is suggested that the maternal/containing transference can be unconsciously fostered by both analyst and analysand to defensively avoid expression of the aggressivized erotic transference in its full intensity. Similarities and differences in cases of sexual boundary violations with opposite-gender pairings are discussed.

Vis-a-vis the couch: where is psychoanalysis?

The author discusses ways in which the couch or chair (lying down versus sitting up) may be used to maintain safety and defend against perceived dangers in the analytic process. Several dialectics are relevant as they intersect with that of danger and safety, including engagement/privacy, interiority/exteriority and subject/object. The author discusses these dialectics in terms of the ways in which the analyst is used at different points in time, i.e. as an objectified other, a subjective object or part-object, or as a subject with an internal world. The therapeutic action associated with sitting up (versus lying down on the couch) has been under-theorized, despite the fact that many, if not most, sit up for some portion of their analysis. Through the use of a heuristic visual-spatial metaphor as represented by the use of the couch or chair, the author discusses the significance of lying down and sitting up for therapeutic action.

Analysts who commit sexual boundary violations: a lost cause?

The causes of sexual misconduct by analysts are discussed, as is the viability of rehabilitation for different types of transgressors. Common misunderstandings about the transgressor (such as the assumption of psychopathy and the likelihood of multiple offenses) are countered with a summary of data derived from the evaluation and/or treatment of over two hundred cases, most of them one-time transgressors. The typical characteristics of the analyst or therapist who engages in sexual misconduct are presented and discussed as qualities that are to some extent present in analysts generally. The temptation to deny this universal vulnerability is viewed as effectively replicating the kind of vertical splitting or compartmentalization that makes one vulnerable to sexual misconduct in the first place.