There Ain’t No Cure for Love: The Psychotherapy of an Erotic Transference

This case study charts the process of psy chotherapy with a young man over a period of about five years and discusses the emer gence of erotic feelings in the transference and countertransference.

Psychological Function, Relational Needs, and Transferential Resolution: Psychotherapy of an Obsession

Hargaden’s (2001) case study, “There Ain’t No Cure for Love: The Psychotherapy of an Erotic Transference,” provided the clini cal material on which to base this discussion of erotic transference as an obsession. Obsessions, repetitive fantasies, rigid behavioral patterns, and habitualized feelings are all maintained because they provide significant psychological functions. Through a relational therapy and phenomenological inquiry the therapist facilitates the client in gaining an awareness of relational needs, ap preciating the intrapsychic functions of an obsession, transferring those functions to the therapeutic relationship, and engaging sig nifi cant others in interpersonal contact. Four examples of psychological function are provided: predictability, identity, continuity, and stability. Various forms of transference are described in terms of relational needs, and the way in which the therapeutic relationship can be useful in the treatment of an obsession is discussed.

The Man with No Name: A Response to Hargaden and Erskine

Originally delivered at the 2001 Institute of Transactional Analysis conference in Keele, England, this article is a response to a case presentation by Hargaden (2001) and a discussant paper by Erskine (2001). Both view Hargaden’s case from a relational point of view. This article considers the dy namics of the therapeutic relationship in terms of the theoretical model of Hargaden and Sills (1999, 2001), and some implications of the story are explored. Questions are raised about transference analysis that have significant implications for the psycho thera pist’s work, specifically the inadvertent rein forcement of script that may occur if trans ferential dynamics are misunderstood.

There Ain’t No Cure Without Sex: The Provision of a “Vital” Base

This essay examines from the perspective of a diagnosis of hysteria Helena Hargaden’s (2001) case study of an intensive, complex psy chotherapy with a male client. The clini cal discussion is focused on the erotic trans ference/countertransference matrix with spe cific recommendations as to how the erotic and sexual aspects of this case might have been elaborated more fully.

Reflections on Erskine, Sills, and Cornell

In this article, the author responds briefly to the careful analyses written by Erskine (2001), Sills (2001), and Cornell (2001) about her case study of erotic transference (Har gaden, 2001). She reflects on how this pro cess has deepened her understanding and yet al lowed her to remain open to various con clusions.

The Girl of the Wind: The Story of Miriam

This article describes the therapeutic jour ney of a preadolescent from the first meeting to the end of treatment. The therapy, which followed a transactional analysis approach, also made important use of the patient’s drawings.

The Fern Monster: A One-Session Cure with Dreamwork

This article describes a single session of dream work with a 13-year-old boy using trans actional analysis and some Jungian theory along with action methods. The client presented a dream that had frightened him, worked for an hour to make sense of it, left with insight into an inner conflict, and changed his behavior accordingly.

It’s All in the Game: Working with Games and Rackets

This article describes a case in which in patient transactional analysis treatment fo cus ing on the client’s repetitive pattern of de struc tive games allowed him to succeed in di rec ting his life script in a healthier direc tion. The author also summarizes the central ideas about games and rackets from the trans actional analysis literature and then uses the case to illustrate her own thinking on the subject.

A Case Presentation Using Game Theory and Levels of Defense

This article describes psychotherapy with a patient who exhibited symptoms of sexual identity confusion, perverse sexual activity, and character disorder. The therapy was con cerned primarily with the underlying three-layered defensive structure of the pa tient’s neurotic condition, which was re vealed in the games the patient initiated with others, including the therapist.

A case example is used to illustrate treat ment using integrative psychotherapy, a particular school of transactional analysis. Integrative psychotherapy as a theory of mo tivation, personality, and methods is con sid ered along with some of its principle con cepts, including contact-in-relationship.