Psychoanalysis and Homosexuality: A Contemporary Introduction

173 Pages·2023·6.122 MB·English

by  Leezah Hertzmann, Juliet Newbigin

Psychoanalysis and
Homosexuality
This important book examines the ways in which same-
sex desire, or “homosexuality” has been theorised by psy-
choanalysis during its history to date and the impact of
that on clinical practice.
The authors explore a brief history of the developing
social attitudes which influenced the evolution of psycho-
analysis, from Freud’s radical questioning of psychosexu-
ality, to the later developments that assumed a moral high
ground for heteronormativity and led to the diagnosis of
other forms of sexual expression as perversions requiring
treatment. The book elucidates contemporary develop-
ments in psychoanalytic thinking about sexuality from
a post-heteronormative standpoint, including an exam-
ination of how heteronormative bias has relegated lived
sexual experience to the sidelines. The book challenges
this bias and introduces new ways of using psychoanalytic
ideas as well as illustrating their relevance to clinical prac-
tice. Drawing on vignettes, the authors describe current
challenges that clinicians face and discuss the dilemmas
that these challenges present, both for qualified clinicians
as well as those in training.
By approaching “homosexuality” from a contempo-
rary post-heteronormative position, the authors advocate
a more flexible encounter in the consulting room in a way
that can illuminate an understanding of all sexualities,
including heterosexuality.
Leezah Hertzmann is principal couple and individual psy-
choanalytic psychotherapist at the Tavistock and Portman
NHS Foundation Trust (London, UK) and in private prac-
tice. She has a career-long interest in psychoanalytic theory
and technique with LGBTQ+ individuals and couples and
is a member of the British Psychoanalytic Council’s Advi-
sory Committee on Sexual and Gender Diversity. She has
been the recipient of two British Psychoanalytic Council
awards: one in 2015 for innovation in relation to developing
evidence-based interventions for couple conflict/violence,
and the second in 2019 with Juliet Newbigin, for Psychoa-
nalysis and Diversity. Leezah teaches and publishes widely.
Juliet Newbigin is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist with
a long-standing interest in the impact of the wider social
context on the development of individual identity within
the family. She has been particularly concerned about the
troubled history of the heteronormative understanding
of sexual orientation in both psychoanalysis and Jungian
analysis, and their failure to recognise the experience of the
LGBTQI community. She has twice been given the BPC’s
Bernard Rattigan Award for Psychoanalysis and Diversity,
in 2015, jointly with Frank Lowe, and in 2019 with Leezah
Hertzmann. She currently chairs the British Psychoana-
lytic Council’s Advisory Committee on Sexual and Gender
Diversity.
Routledge Introductions to Contemporary
Psychoanalysis
Series Editor: Aner Govrin, Ph.D.
Executive Editor: Tair Caspi, Ph.D.
Assistant Editor: Yael Peri Herzovich
“Routledge Introductions to Contemporary Psychoanalysis”
is one of the prominent psychoanalytic publishing ventures
of our day. It will comprise dozens of books that will serve
as concise introductions dedicated to influential concepts,
theories, leading figures, and techniques in psychoanalysis
covering every important aspect of psychoanalysis.
The length of each book is fixed at 40,000 words.
The series’ books are designed to be easily accessible to
provide informative answers in various areas of psycho-
analytic thought. Each book will provide updated ideas
on topics relevant to contemporary psychoanalysis – from
the unconscious and dreams, projective identification and
eating disorders, through neuropsychoanalysis, coloni-
alism, and spiritual-sensitive psychoanalysis. Books will
also be dedicated to prominent figures in the field, such
as Melanie Klein, Jaque Lacan, Sandor Ferenczi, Otto
Kernberg, and Michael Eigen.
Not serving solely as an introduction for beginners, the
purpose of the series is to offer compendiums of infor-
mation on particular topics within different psychoana-
lytic schools. We ask authors to review a topic but also
address the readers with their own personal views and
contribution to the specific chosen field. Books will make
intricate ideas comprehensible without compromising
their complexity.
We aim to make contemporary psychoanalysis more
accessible to both clinicians and the general educated
public.
Aner Govrin - Editor
Psychoanalytic Field Theory: A Contemporary
Introduction
Giuseppe Civitarese
Psychoanalysis and Colonialism: A Contemporary
Introduction
Sally Swartz
W.R. Bion’s Theories of Mind: A Contemporary
Introduction
Annie Reiner
Herbert Rosenfeld: A Contemporary Introduction
Robert Hinshelwood
Neuropsychoanalysis: A Contemporary Introduction
Georg Northoff
Spiritually-Sensitive Psychoanalysis: A Contemporary
Introduction
Gideon Lev
Psychoanalysis and Homosexuality: A Contemporary
Introduction
Leezah Hertzmann and Juliet Newbigin
Melanie Klein: A Contemporary Introduction
Penelope Garvey
Psychoanalysis and
Homosexuality
A Contemporary Introduction
Leezah Hertzmann and
Juliet Newbigin
Designed cover image: © Michal Heiman, Asylum
1855–2020, The Sleeper (video, psychoanalytic
sofa and Plate 34), exhibition view, Herzliya
Museum of Contemporary Art, 2017
First published 2023
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group,
an informa business
© 2023 Leezah Hertzmann and Juliet Newbigin
The right of Leezah Hertzmann and Juliet Newbigin
to be identified as authors of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
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without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-20007-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-22098-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-27116-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003271161
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by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
Contents
Introduction 1
1 The social origins of the concept of
homosexuality 8
2 Freud and the evolution of his theories of
sexuality 28
3 Psychoanalysis and homosexuality
after Freud 56
4 Internalised homophobia and shame 89
5 Clinical challenges 113
Postscript: The past, present and future 136
Public apology of the Finnish
Psychoanalytic Society 139
viii Contents
British Psychoanalytic Council statement
of regret January 2021 141
American Psychoanalytic Association
issues overdue apology to LGBTQ
community 143
Bibliography 145
Index 158
Introduction
Psychoanalysis and homosexuality are relatively recent
inventions, both having appeared during the last half
of the nineteenth century. In this book, we trace their
involvement with one another and the story of changing
attitudes to both. As we hope to show, psychoanalysis
could claim to have played a leading role in the develop-
ment of what we understand to be homosexuality today.
In Chapter 1, we describe how the emergence of the theo-
retical human sciences in the nineteenth century involved
the energetic production of systems by which human
behaviour could be classified, taking a particular interest
in what could be described as “deviant”. This involved the
naming and anatomising of non-heterosexual practices.
The philosopher, Michel Foucault, described how as a
result of this activity, “the homosexual became a person-
age, a past, a case history, and a childhood, in addition
to being a type of life, a life form, and a morphology …”
(Foucault 1978/1998, p. 43).
Freud’s relatively tolerant although ultimately critical
theoretical assessment played a significant part in devel-
oping an understanding of homosexuality as a medical
disorder. This was uncritically taken much further by
his followers, who prescribed treatment to “convert”
the homosexual patient to “healthy” heterosexuality,
DOI: 10.4324/9781003271161-1