Andrea Celenza

Please Note: To preserve and respect both intellectual property rights and confidentiality, the seminar will not be recorded, nor is recording permitted.

Erotic Transferences and the Maternal Erotic Transference

Seminar description:

Despite emerging frequently in the psychoanalytic process, Andrea Celenza highlights the sparseness of literature on erotic transferences and a tendency to desexualise psychoanalytic theorizing, which she posits is a result of the inherent threat erotic transferences can pose to the analyst. This presentation includes a brief overview of the topic, clarification of terminology, and a vivid case example of a maternal erotic transference with a challenging patient. Practitioners will be provided with tools to deal with the intense feelings that inevitably arise with erotic transferences. Ample time will be reserved for audience discussion as well.

About the Speaker:

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 NYU Post-Doctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and The Florida Psychoanalytic Center. She has written numerous papers on love, sexuality and psychoanalysis and is on the Editorial Board of JAPA. She has two online courses and is the recipient of several awards. Her writings have been translated into Italian, Spanish, Korean, Russian, Chinese and Farsi. Her latest book, entitled Erotic Transferences: A Contemporary Introduction is published by Routledge (2024). Dr. Celenza is in private practice in Lexington, Massachusetts, USA.