Creativity and the Erotic Dimensions of the Analytic Field

Description

Creativity and the Erotic Dimensions of the Analytic Field centers on the mutually reinforcing relationship between erotic and creative energies. Erotic embodiment is given context within a contemporary model of clinical process based in analytic field theory and highlighting Winnicott. Dianne Elise uses clinical material to bring theory alive, giving clinicians an explicit picture of how they might utilize the ideas presented. In a fascinating return to Freud’s emphasis on libido and Eros, a creative mind is seen as located within a libidinal connection to the erotic body. The erotic is underscored as an important ingredient of the clinical situation―a lively spontaneity that partakes of the analyst’s as well as the patient’s creative self, vitalizing the field of clinical engagement. A full formulation of the analytic field must include awareness of the centrality of the erotic in the maternal matrix, in ongoing development, and in the clinical setting. The erotic-aesthetic dimension of the mind potentiates the creative interplay of the analytic process. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this original contribution makes complex theory available to psychoanalytic clinicians at all levels, and to a wide range of readers, while offering sophisticated theoretical and clinical innovations. Elise addresses the need to engage multiple aspects of erotic life while maintaining a reliable professional boundary. Cover Praise Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Foreword by Adrienne Harris, Ph.D. Acknowledgements Introduction The maternal erotic matrix Winnicott and creative living The clinical relationship as an analytic field Bringing erotic life to the analytic field Sex and sexuality in psychoanalysis Notes References PART I: Erotic vitality in analytic process Chapter 1: Moving from within the maternal: the choreography of analytic eroticism Eroticism in the maternal matrix: the dance of development Choreography as artistic expression and as metaphor for clinical process Clinical illustration: a still and arid landscape Analytic ardor: the heretical ethics of the analyst’s eroticism A note on creativity, clinical training and professional development Conclusion Notes References Chapter 2: Desire and disruption in the analytic relationship The mermaid The black man The phantom father figure The vanquished and vanished erotic mother The sexy mind Discussion: Oedipal eruption/disruption Epilogue: subjects of beauty Notes References Chapter 3: Blocked creativity and inhibited erotic transference The passion and challenge of psychoanalysis A blind eye Couch relations Creativity and the primal scene Inhibitions in the analyst Conclusion Notes References PART II: Potential space and orientations of the erotic Chapter 4: Psychic bisexuality and creativity: gender repertoires Clinical material The primal, ‘primal scene’ Penetration and primitive excitements Has sexuality anything to do with early object relations? Conclusion Notes References Chapter 5: Male fears of psychic penetration Psychic vulnerability in males as threat to gender identity and sense of self The citadel complex Penetrating the analytic field Conclusion References Chapter 6: Reclaiming lost loves: transcending unrequited desires Oedipal negativity Psychic bisexuality: bedrock and shock Desire for the maternal Erotic transference as a riptide in the analytic sea The complex within the complexity The poet and the mermaid: transcending oedipal obstacles Conclusion References PART III: Women and desire: erotic dysphorias Chapter 7: Sex and shame: the inhibition of female desires The body ego Sex and shame A gendered fork in the developmental road Creative penetrations: keeping the erotic in the field of clinical engagement Conclusion References Chapter 8: Erasure of the female erotic Why women may not want to want Silences, gaps, and lacks: “girls don’t have what it takes” The sleeping vagina Mother hunger and the inflated penis Turning (in)to heterosexuality Erotic dysphorias Conclusion Note References Chapter 9: Failure to thrive: masochistic submission in women The derailment of female erotic agency In the gaze of the (m)other The trophy husband Feminine masochism in females Marital dynamics Conclusion Notes References PART IV: Erotic betrayal and poisoned desires Chapter 10: Infidelity and the betrayal of truth Lived reality becomes fiction The inextricable nature of sexuality, triangularity, and infidelity Gender, danger, and deception Issues in clinical treatment Conclusion Notes References Chapter 11: Betrayal and the loss of goodness in the analytic relationship A tear in the fabric of time Complicated beginnings Conclusion Notes References Chapter 12: Narcissistic seductions and the collapse of the creative Knowing all/all knowing Swimming sideways Creative expansions of the erotic Conclusion References Index