A GAY OLD TIME:
Evolving Psychoanalytic Paradigms of Homosexuality

Presenter
CARY FRIEDMAN, MD
Faculty, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute
Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Private Practice, Cambridge

Discussants
CLAIRE CARSWELL, MD
Advanced Candidate, Boston Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy;
Faculty and Attending, Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital;
Private Practice, Belmont, MA

MATTHEW SILVIA-PERKINS, LICSW
Clinical Social Worker, Massachusetts General Hospital;
Student, Advanced Training Program in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy,
Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute; Private Practice, Boston, Ma

Reception 6:30 – 7:00 pm; Lecture 7:00 to 9:30 pm

Since Sigmund Freud began his revolutionary text Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality in 1905 with a detailed study of homosexuality, our efforts to understand same sex attraction and behavior have played a central role in psychoanalytic theory. This lecture will describe the historical evolution of four psychoanalytic paradigms of male homosexuality—Freud’s search for understanding, homosexuality as illness, homosexuality as health, and the deconstruction of categories of illness and sexuality. A close examination of the underlying assumptions of each paradigm shows the strong influences that cultural context and prejudice have had on psychoanalytic theory. A clinical illustration will show how each paradigm influences our work today, and how tolerance of uncertainty about psychoanalytic “knowledge” can help free us as clinicians to develop richer understandings of our patients’ emotional lives

Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify underlying assumptions of the four psychoanalytic paradigms used to understand homosexuality.
2. Describe how each paradigm influences our clinical work today.
3. Describe how psychoanalytic theory is influenced by cultural contexts.

References
1, Corbett, K. (1993) The Mystery of Homosexuality. Psychoanalytic Psychology 10:345-357.
2. Freud, S. (1905) Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. Standard Edition 7:130-243.
3. Isay, R. (1989) Being Homosexual: Gay Men and Their Development. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.