A Sadomasochistic Transference - Beth J. Seelig, MD

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pseudo-relationships, was to persevere in the painful pleasures of the dyad. The good little girl who did well in school and had lots of friends was felt to be "phony," while the "bad" self that related to mother felt genuine (Winnicott, 1960). Because superego pathology is inevitable in such patients, superego conflicts invariably reinforced her sadomasochistic pathology. It seems very likely that had Miss T.'s analyst been male, she might well have developed an erotized initial transference as a defense against the underlying hostile-dependent maternal transference. This is a not uncommon (though not inevitable) development in the analysis of the "not-so-good" hysteric by a male analyst. An erotized transference may be mobilized to cloak oral aggression and sadomasochistic pathology with a pseudosexual defense (Person, 1988). That Miss T. was referred to a woman made it less likely that an erotized transference would be used as an initial defense, and facilitated the early emergence of the rageful sadomasochistic maternal transference. The preoedipal material had to be worked through prior to the analysis of oedipal material. In fact, after the stormy initial phase of the analysis, the material became far more typically oedipal. The remainder of the analysis of Miss T. is beyond the scope of this paper; however, it was striking that rapid analytic progress occurred after the early transference regression had been largely worked through. <strong>Sadomasochistic</strong> pathology serves many complex needs, and the importance of one or the other such need may be weighted differently in different patients. Likewise, sadomasochistic pathology can be understood within several theoretical perspectives. The analysis of Miss T. led us to focus on the varieties of pleasure experienced in sadomasochistic interactions. While this case conforms to descriptions of some of Cooper's patients, we were struck by the pleasure (and safety) - 989 - of the connectedness Miss T. was able to derive within the purview of distorted relationships. For some patients, such relationships appear preferable to the only imaginable alternatives: extreme schizoid or paranoid adaptations. Miss T.'s analysis helped clarify the way difficulties occurring (or experienced) around rapprochement issues and preoedipal triangulation may be decisive in locking an individual into participation in a repetitive series of sadomasochistic interactions. REFERENCES ABELIN, E. 1971 The role of the father in the separation-individuation process In Separation-Individuation: Essays in Honor of Margaret S. Mahler ed. J. B. McDevitt & C. F. Settlage. New York: int. Univ. Press, pp. 229-252 ABELIN, E. 1975 Some further observations and comments on the earliest role of the father Int. J. Psychoanal. 56:293-302 [→]
ATKINS, R. N. 1982 Discovering daddy: the mother's role In Father and Child, Developmental and Clinical Perspectives ed. S. Cath, A. Gurwill & J. M. Ross. Boston: Little, Brown, pp. 139-149 BENJAMIN, J. 1989 The Bonds of Love New York: Pantheon. COEN, S. J. 1988 Superego aspects of entitlement (in rigid characters) J. Am. Psychoanal. Assoc. 36:409-427 [→] COOPER, A. M. 1985 The unusually painful analysis: a group of narcissisticmasochistic characters In Psychoanalysis: The Vital Issues Vol. 2 ed. J. E. Gedo & G. H. Pollock. New York: Int Univ. Press, pp. 45-67 COOPER, A. M. 1988 The narcissistic-masochistic character In Masochism. Current Psychanalytic Perspectives ed. R. A. Glick & D. I. Meyers. Hillside, N.J.: Analytic Press, pp. 45-67 EASSER, B. & LESSER, S. 1965 Hysterical personality: a reevaluation Psychoanal. Q. 34:390-405 [→] FAIRBAIRN, W. R. D. 1952 Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality London: Tavistock. [→] GALENSON, E. & ROIPHE, M. 1976 Some suggested revisions concerning early female development J. Am. Psychoanal. Assoc. 24 (Suppl.) 24-58 [→] HERZOG, J. M. 1982 On father hunger: the father's role in the modulation of aggressive drive and fantasy In Father and Child, Developmental and Clinical Perspectives ed. S. Cath, A. Gurwitt & J. M. Ross. Boston: Little Brown, pp. 163-174 KERNBERG, O. F. 1984 Severe Personality Disorders: Psychotherapeutic Strategies New Haven, Conn.: Yale Univ. Press. KERNBERG, O. F. 1988a Clinical dimensions of masochism J. Am. Psychoanal. Assoc. 36:1005-1029 [→] KERNBERG, O. F. 1988b Object relation in clinical practice Psychoanal. Q. 57:481-504 [→] KOHUT, H. 1971 The Analysis of the Self New York: Int. Univ. Press. [→] - 990 - MAHLER, M. S. & GOSLINER, B. J. 1955 On symbiotic child psychosis: genetic, dynamic and restitutive aspects Psychoanal. Study Child 10:195-212 [→] MAHLER, M. S., PINE, F. & BERGMAN, A. 1975 The Psychological Birth of the Human Infant New York: Basic Books. PERSON, E. S. 1988 Dreams of Love and Fateful Encounters: The Power of Romantic Passion New York: Norton. RACKER, H. 1957 The meaning and uses of countertransference Psychoanal. Q. 26:303-357 [→] ROSS, J. M. 1988 The eye of the beholder In Frontiers of Adult Development ed. C. Colarusso & R. Nemiroff. San Diego, Calif.: Univ. San Diego Press.
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Page 17 and 18: gratification from their sense of v
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A Sadomasochistic Transference - Beth J. Seelig, MD

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