Transference and Countertransference in Sexology

What's at stake in the sexological consultation, both for the patient and for the therapist? What do the patient's complaints and the presentation of his symptoms imply? The patient desires recognition and love, which he expresses through a transferential movement towards the therapist. The therapist, on the other hand, will be driven by counter-transferential movements underpinned by his own desires. In this encounter, each of us could satisfy a part of these illusory desires: for the patient, the desire to have found someone who understands him or her perfectly, what we call the subject-supposed-knowledge, and for the therapist, the desire to have found someone who recognizes that we possess knowledge. But not satisfying these desires is an ethical requirement if the therapeutic act is to be successful, and if sexual acts between patient and therapist are to be avoided. A survey of 136 practising sex therapists and sexology students confirmed the importance of establishing a therapeutic and ethical framework, and of sound theoretical and clinical training, as well as defining the place of therapeutic tools and the spoken word.