Abstract

The psychoanalytic process is affected by numerous aspects. This paper deals with the influence of the sex of the patient and the sex of the therapist on the components of the process. The emphasis is on the relationship between a male patient a female psychoanalyst. Certain countertransference aspects, doubts, and problems in this form of therapeutic relationship pose a challenge for a female psychoanalyst. The significance of being a female psychotherapist as well as her reaction and experiences are observed in relation to the development of manifestations of erotic transference, the process of masculine identification of a male patient with a female therapist, and the role of a female analyst in the resolution of Oedipal situation. The influence and awareness of the female psychoanalyst’s own unconscious aspects enable her to open and work in the therapeutic process on various levels of development and in various phases of the therapeutic process with the patient. The value and significance of the open-minded space of the analyst and the existence of a “father in mother” can help a male patient overcome the “transitional space” of the Oedipal situation and thus provide stability in the triangular situation (or depressive position).