Gender Issues in Transference and Countertransference

This chapter explores the ways in which gender influences the transference and countertransference. The influence of the analyst’s gender has been debated since Freud first suggested that female analysts might have access to transferences not readily observable by male analysts. Several authors have asserted that the gender of the analyst directly influences the nature of the transference. Freud describes the common situation where a female patient falls in love with her (male) doctor. He understands this erotic transference as a repetition of childhood experiences and reactions, rather than as arising from the reality situation. Freud points out that it is equally disastrous for the analysis if the patient’s craving for love is gratified or if the yearning is suppressed. Freud conceptualizes transference love as a resistance or a defensive response that needs to be understood in the analytic situation and not acted on.