Ecstasy and Agony: When Too Much is Not Enough
Publication Announcement by Janine de Peyer (USA)
de Peyer, J. (2025). Ecstasy and agony: When too much is not enough. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 35(4): 459-467.
This paper, cast in the form of reverie, delves into the emotional currents, bodily sensations, and inner dialogues that may surface for an analyst drawn into the powerful transference—countertransference dynamics stirred by a patient’s compulsive eroticism. When early maternal deprivation and abandonment give rise to adult sexualization as a defense against more primal anguish—grief, longing, and existential solitude—the analyst’s own sexuality may be unconsciously summoned as a potential vehicle for healing. In following the difficult trajectory of Sarah Schoen’s treatment with Luke, I imagine the inner turbulence such a process might awaken in any analyst—a fraught interplay of frustration, unexpected surges of sexual arousal, and a deep undertow of self doubt—hallmarks of the complex, erotically charged analytic encounter.
Janine de Peyer, LCSW
New York, NY, USA
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