Gender as an element in the intersubjective field: The female therapist and the male patient

Gender identity is a fundamental component of core identity and it lays the ground plan for the creation of the specifics of the individual's self representation through varied early self- and object experience. This paper seeks to illuminate some of the unconscious dynamics emerging out of profound developmental differences between women and men. The effects of these unconscious dynamics upon the relationship between the male patient and the female therapist are examined, drawing upon transferential and extratransferential phenomena. Illustrations are presented, demonstrating interpretive work directed toward resolution of conflicts around male identity and aimed at fostering self-object differentiation.Revised version of a paper presented at the Third National Clinical Conference of the Committee on Psychoanalysis