This article analyzes the current controversey over the iatrogenic implantation of sexual abuse >pseudomemories< during psychoanalytic treatment. It includes a critique of contemporary memory >research< and an elaboration of the concept of traumatic dissociation, bringing it into the framework of relational theory. Specific clinical examples are used to illustrate why adult survivors of sexual abuse are so vulnerable to dissociative rather than repressive defensive structures. In the context of a long clinical vignette, the analyst's countertransference is explored as a fulcrum for the counterbalancing effects of traumatic memory, dissociation, and constructivism.
In this article I explore the concept of a postoedipal adult sexuality and its role in the erotic transference-countertransference processes seen in psychoanalytic treatment. This concept challenges the fundamental assumption that, whenever erotic feelings enter the psychoanalytic space, the analyst always stands in the role of the oedipal parent. It suggests that clinical choices made from within an oedipal model often fail to recognize certain significant developmental changes. An extended clinical example is provided.