Analysis of the Transference Neurosis in a Child with Transsexual Symptoms

Bibliographic Data

ID8334863
AuthorsLoretta R Loeb (Oregon Health Sciences University. Accepted for publication March 14, 1991., corresponding author)
Year1992
Volume40
Issue2
Pages587-605
Publication date1992-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the American Psychoanalytic Association (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0651 • E-ISSN: 1941-2460
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/000306519204000213
PMID1593086
OpenAlexW1842409978
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited8

This paper touches on two issues that have been disputed by child analysts: the genesis of the transsexual symptom complex, and the question of transference neurosis in child analysis. My observation, as reported previously (Loeb and Shane, 1980) and shown in the present case, is that the transsexual symptom complex can develop out of intrapsychic conflict and can be resolved in a fully developed transference neurosis. In the analysis of a four-and-a-half-year-old boy with transsexual symptoms, I was abstinent—not benevolent or supportive—and both positive and negative transference feelings developed into a full-blown transference neurosis. Then, as I interpreted its elements, we worked through his conflicts, which manifested themselves as acting out of his identification with his aggressive, seductive, and castrating grandmother. As he came to understand his conflicts, the boy's transsexual symptoms vanished

Feeling · Neurosis · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Transgender · Transsexual · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology

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