Knowing Hate in Analytic Relationships

In the belief that hate is just as likely as love to enter our analytic relationships and despite our inability to precisely define hate in words, this article explores analytic hatred by means of what the authors call “embodied relational knowing.” When hatred arising from conflicts and upheavals in the world infiltrates the encounter between patient and analyst, the need to know and be known often collides with the need not to know and not to be known. Two illustrative clinical examples are presented to show how this situation may lead to silence when words are most needed. Contributions from analysts who suggest ways to break the silence about hatred in the world are offered.