Psychology Commons^™

A Case Of "Loving Hate", Michelle C. Loris

Psychology Faculty Publications

The case, "Loving Hate," clarifies the complicated dynamics of the eroticization of hate. These dynamics were forged for the adult sexual abuse survivor in the early abusive relationship where love was always accompanied by hate. In the therapeutic relationship, these dynamics are reenacted and experienced in the countertransference where the therapist feels the patient's unconscious pressure to turn this relationship into a kind of "hating mating." This case vignette is used to illustrate how the therapist's countertransference impasse impeded treatment. Explanation and analysis are offered in this case to suggest how by using the paradigm of Abuser, Victim, Bystander to …