Love and sexuality in psychotherapy setting: psychoanalysis and Gestalt therapy in dialogue

Against the backdrop of postmodern society and of the profound changes taking place in the context of sexual and "intimate" relations, psychoanalysis and Gestalt therapy are compared with respect to the issue of sexuality and its implications for the theory of technique and clinical practice. Although from different epistemologies, these two models meet on the common ground of relationships, emotion, and, finally, clinical practice. In a straightforward conversational manner, easily understandable and with the help of examples from his own clinical experience Paolo Migone details the topic of sexuality in therapy, where the humanities of both therapist and patient meet. What emerges is a picture of a therapist willing to experiment with his own emotions in the relationship with the patient, never losing sight of the value, meaning and "therapeutic use" of his own humanity.

Keywords: Postmodernity, sexuality, psychoanalysis, Gestalt therapy, drive, relation, transfert and countertransference, love, theory of technique, clinical practice.

Paolo Migone, Barbara Crescimanno, L’amore e la sessualità nel setting di cura: psicoanalisi e psicoterapia della Gestalt a confronto in "QUADERNI DI GESTALT" 1/2014, pp 9-18, DOI: 10.3280/GEST2014-001002