No 1, 2007
After more than 25 years of existence, 150 sexoanalysts trained in 8 countries, 11 Québécois and 6 international seminars, sexoanalysis was ripe for its own dissemination vehicle. A few years have past between the idea and the actual completion of what has become the “Revue internationale de sexoanalyse”, an electronic publication whose primary mission is to disseminate theoretical and clinical knowledge in sexoanalysis, but which is also aimed at providing a forum for ideas and opinions on the themes that are at the heart of sexoanalysis: sexuality, eroticism, masculinity, femininity, erotic imagery and the sexual unconscious.
Although sexoanalysis is primarily a therapeutic approach for sexual problems, it has also become a theory on sexual development and has established itself as a field of study1. Throughout the years, practitioners from various fields of interest have contributed to its development and this first issue clearly demonstrates the discipline’s vitality as well as its historical and contemporary anchorage. It is important to underline that this vitality is the fruit of the intelligence and sensibility of its founder, Professor Claude Crépault, who created sexoanalysis and inspired his successors with his remarkable qualities: the clinician’s keenness and profundity, the inventor’s ingenuity, the intellectual’s thoroughness, the craftsman’s patience and meticulousness. Crépault gave the journal an interview on the evolution of his ideas and theories on sexuality and shared with us the content of his next book. The audio content of this interview can be found in the section “Autres Regards” and completes the five articles presented here.
In the first part of an article on the epistemology of sexoanalysis, Denise Medico presents a reinterpretation of certain sexoanalytic notions from a constructionist perspective. From the standpoint that the sexual self is a psychic and narrative construct, and that the body is at the heart of this construction, Medico clarifies the position of sexoanalytic theory in treatment (a mythology of sexuality), the patient’s and the therapist’s role (scribe and guide in the creation of a narration) and revisits the notion of imagery. The clinical implications of this re-examination are very enlightening.
These epistemological referents (constructionism, narrativity, phenomenology) can also be found in Claude Esturgie’s article in which he reinterprets one of sexoanalysis’ central notions: gender. After providing the reader with an overview of the different perspectives on this notion, the author chooses a three prong integrative view of gender (sexoanalytic, narrative and fractal) and, like Medico, re-examines imagery exploration and modification for therapeutic purposes within this new perspective. This is a thought-provoking article that again demonstrates the historical and contemporary anchorage of sexoanalysis.
Once again, the body and gender identity are addressed in the article presented by Michel Goulet. This experienced clinician uses an allegory to present a particular form of gender dysphoria associated with a congenital defect. Goulet demonstrates with originality the different avatars of masculinity and femininity, the paradoxes inherent to gender identity expression and their repercussions on eroticism through a clinical illustration reconstructed around the mythical character of Merlin.
After Julie Côté Rousseau underlines how the sexoanalytic treatment process focuses on decoding and modifying the patient’s erotic dynamic through an exploration of his or her erotic fantasies, the author asks the following question: how can we treat women whose erotic imagery is difficult to access? Côté Rousseau presents a clinical vignette in which she describes her use of erotic literature as a therapeutic tool and then discusses the transferential issues associated to using such a technique.
Finally, through a sexoanalytic exploration of the relationship between enamouration and eroticisation, Katia Fournier attempts to answer the following question: why do we fall in love. By means of three case vignettes, this article demonstrates how the state of being love is a response to painful experiences that took place during one’s development (sexual and non sexual) and to fantasies that were created concomitantly. This article also demonstrates how the combined reparative powers of the state of being in love and erotic imagery create a synergic force that assures victory over past wounds.
Combining theoretical discourse with evocative power
The proceedings of the last International Seminar held in Switzerland in June of 2007 (see “Actes de Séminaire”) clearly demonstrate how, as a field of study, sexoanalysis arouses the interest of individuals who come from many different disciplines. We know as well that neither sexoanalysts nor sexologists have a monopoly on human sexuality discourse. Eroticism, sexuality, masculinity and femininity and, a fortiori, the unconscious, are all concepts that are difficult to grasp. Through its evocative power, artistic language strikes by giving shape to our impressions and by generating new intuitions, a process that is somewhat similar to the one that takes place in our practice when we are struck by a figure of our patient’s psyche (or our own?). Let us take for example the album “Tweedles” (2006) by the American group The Residents that evokes numerous figures familiar to the sexoanalyst such as the rise and fall of the “manly man” who devoted his whole life to proving his virility through worshiping his penis and through his numerous sexual conquests. Or, the Catalan film “What’s It All About” by Ventury Pons (1994) in which other figures are accurately and sometimes humorously brought to mind: the power of the masochist, the mechanics of the crescendo in erotic activation, etc.
In future issues, the Journal intends to become a veritable forum of ideas on sexuality by providing contemporary thinkers and artists who wish to contribute to the publication with a space free of technical jargon. In addition to presenting interviews, the section “Autres Regards” will be devoted to these types of contributions. We believe in the value of decompartmentalizing the evolution of knowledge and are convinced that this sharing of ideas can contribute to the advancement of sexoanalysis. As for sexoanalysis, it has reached a sufficient level of maturity as a discipline to allow itself to influence other fields of activity and of thought.
This first issue is dedicated with gratitude to Claude Crépault.
NOTES
ACKNOWLEGMENTS
We would like to express our utmost gratitude to the members of the editorial board and of the international scientific committee. The journal also wishes to extend a special thanks to the following persons for their contribution to this first issue.