Straight, Gay, or Both: The Case of Michael

ABSTRACT

This article presents a summary of the ongoing treatment of a man in his fifties who has lived the life of a “happily married man with children” for more than 20 years but who has intermittently sought out clandestine sexual encounters with other men. His wife's discovery of his homosexual activities precipitated a psychological crisis that has forced him to grapple with his confusion and conflicts about his sexual orientation and his identity as a “man.” The article explores some of the ways in which the patient's personal history has complicated the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity for him.

KEYWORDS:

• Bisexuality
• gay
• homosexuality
• intersubjectivity
• psychoanalysis
• psychotherapy
• self psychology
• sexual identity
• sexual orientation

Notes

1. Here I wish to assert my belief that the major source of resistance in any psychotherapeutic treatment is the patient's dread (most often unconscious) that, in the therapy relationship, the uncovering and exposing of shameful aspects of self experience will be met with the same kind of insensitive, judgmental, and rejecting responsiveness that was experienced during the person's formative years, thereby repeating the trauma of empathic failure and perpetuating the patient's need to keep his “badness” hidden, and therefore unintegrated.