Understand what desire in the room is really about. Develop the thinking, courage and relational capacity to work with erotic material at developmental depth.

During this workshop you will:

• Begin to see erotic transference as necessary and informing, rather than an obstacle
• Understand a variety of theoretical frameworks to illuminate the experience of the erotic, expanding your range of movement in clinical situations
• Apply that insight to clinical work and develop confidence to work with areas which might otherwise be avoidant or shaming

Overview

Erotic transference remains one of the most challenging territories in psychotherapeutic work – often misunderstood, it can be managed defensively rather than being seen as the psyche’s attempt to heal developmental wound. When clients experience intense attraction, longing, or sexual feelings toward their therapist, fear and risk can occupy the practitioners mind, leading to defensive practice. Such a response can inadvertently recreate the original developmental injury: desire met with withdrawal, aliveness met with clinical distance. Shame can be reinforced and wounded parts might feel abandoned.

This workshop offers a different approach: understanding erotic transference as the life force seeking connection to overcome unmet developmental needs, particularly around attachment, attunement, and embodied care. The erotic – not as adult sexuality, but as fundamental life energy – carries critical information about preverbal patterns of longing, shame, and the hungry search for recognition.

Yet, the ethical and clinical risks are real. Misunderstandings around erotic transference, as well as actual sexual boundary violations and/or inappropriateness, remain a leading source of complaints. While too much clinical distance might recreate abandonment, too much permeability risks boundary violations and re-traumatisation. Practitioners need to develop a bifocal presence, which contains the sexual while exploring the emotional. Developing skills in this area, understanding ethical limitations, and practicing with charged material, reduces anxiety improves confidence.

This workshop explores erotic transference through multiple lenses: attachment theory and preverbal trauma, Jungian archetypal psychology, somatic and body-oriented approaches, and the psychospiritual dimensions of eros as life force. We’ll examine how to hold the tension between adult sexuality and infantile need, how to work with shame and exposure, and how to maintain ethical integrity while allowing genuine intimacy.

Content Structure

• Eros as life force vs. sexuality: essential distinctions and theoretical fundamentals
• Developmental origins of erotic transferences and fixations
• Thinking about clinical dynamics: typical presentations, approaches
• Ethical considerations: complexities, risks and how to work with

Format

Suitability

This workshop is designed for integrative psychotherapists who are interested in expanding their knowledge of developmental psychology. No prior knowledge of Jungian or psychodynamic therapy is needed. The earlier workshop on counter-transference and transference would be advantageous but is not mandatory.

Pricing and Next Steps

£165 per attendee. Maximum of 8 places to maintain group process.
Sign up on the workshop page.