Andrea Celenza, Ph.D. presents Essays on Love, Sexuality and Countertransference

Scientific Meeting

This presentation will be in person and via zoom

Presentation Summary:

Through exploration of erotics in clinical process, several essays will address the particular manifestations of erotic longing in psychoanalysis. These essay aim to address the deficiency in our literature and theories of technique and to encourage more open discussion about erotic transferences in all of their manifestations. In particular, I will discuss the varieties and meanings of the analyst’s countertransference over the course of psychoanalytic process. I will discuss the analysis  of a range of erotic transferences from the analyst’s point of view, and how these countertransference experiences aid the analyst in understanding unconscious factors in the patient’s experience.

Andrea Celenza, Ph.D., is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School. She is also Adjunct Faculty at  The Florida Psychoanalytic Center. She has written numerous papers and four books on love, sexuality, and psychoanalysis. She has two more online courses and her work has been recognized with  The Karl Menninger Award, The Helena Deutsch Prize, and The Simonds Prize. Her writings have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Korean, Russian, Chinese, and Farsi. Her third book, entitled, Transference, Love, and Being: Essential Essays from the Field, was published in 2022 by Routledge and was nominated for the Gradiva Award. Her most recent book, Erotic Transferences: A Contemporary Introduction is published by Routledge (2024). Dr, Celenza is in private practice in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Learning Objectives:

1. To examine the ways in which the analyst’s countertransference can foster, facilitate, or inhibit the emergence of the full intensity or erotic transferences at different phases of the treatment.
2. Demonstrate greater comfort with the identification and exploration of their own countertransference, especially as it emerges in erotic forms.
3. Describe the pressures on the analyst given their professional role, personal needs and the nature of the analytic setting.