Deepening Intimacy in Psychotherapy: Using the Erotic Transference and Countertransference

The discussion of sexual or loving feelings in therapy, while not for those averse to risk, can create and deepen emotional intimacy in a way that no other aspect of human relatedness can. Treating patients who develop erotic transferences and working with one's own erotic countertransference, present treatment and professional vulnerabilities for the therapist. In this provocative volume, Dr. Florence Rosiello addresses erotic dynamics in the treatment relationship within the context of a two-person therapy, emphasizing the necessity of mutuality and emotional reciprocity between patient and therapist. With rich clinical illustrations, she demonstrates how the intimacy created by working within the sexual dimension of the therapeutic relationship may present opportunities for insight and growth that could easily be missed if one seeks to avoid these highly charged issues. Focusing on those patients who are predisposed to relating to others in a sexualized manner, Dr. Rosiello has discovered that mutual exploration of both the therapist's and the patient's subjective experience offers a valuable and effective means of enhancing the treatment.

"Today's psychotherapist is faced with the important challenge of making use of his or her individual voice and temperament. Florence Rosiello takes up this challenge where others might avoid it, in the difficult arena of the erotic transference and countertransference experience. Dr. Rosiello uses creativity laced with humor to demonstrate how her unique point of view can be used in this context to deepen the relationship between therapist and patient."
~ EMMANUEL KAFTAL, PH.D. INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOTHERAPY, NYC.

"Dr. Florence Rosiello has written an important, pioneering book. It is composed of a collection of clinical experiences with patients who have developed erotic transferences. These experiences reflect a wide range in gender and sexual orientation configuration of patient and therapist. As Dr. Rosiello points out, the important area of erotic transference and countertransference has, for the most part, been neglected in the clinical literature. She describes those erotic narratives with courage and sophistication. It is clear that the expression of loving and sexual feelings in the transference involves emotional risk-taking on the part of the therapist. In these beautifully and sensitively written vignettes, Dr. Rosiello demonstrates that working with the erotic transference creates the basis for a very special emotional intimacy in the therapeutic relationship. This volume is highly recommended to clinicians at all levels of experience."
~ JEFFREY SEINFELD, PH.D. PROFESSOR, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, NYC.

"Dr Rosiello has performed the enormous service of taking the erotic transference and countertransference out of the therapeutic closet. In this scholarly and incisive account of the psychoanalytic view of the erotic transference, she courageously ventures into territory that has tended to be off limits. With rich illustrations, she vividly shows how both same- and different-gender patients and therapists struggle to make sense of and deal with their erotic feelings in treatment. Dr. Rosiello has significantly enlarged our view of the meaning of the erotic transference to encompass a patient's positive developmental strivings for connection and intimacy. She makes a major contribution to our understanding of the ways in which therapists need to participate with patients during psychotherapy."
~ EDA G. GOLDSTEIN, DSW. PROFESSOR/DIRECTOR OF PHD SW PROGRAM, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, NYC.