What does this research mean for the field?

Aggressive and eroticised fantasies between analyst and patient can be constructively used in clinical work if recognized and interpreted through countertransference; otherwise, they risk becoming hidden and leading to ethical boundary breaches. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

What question did this study set out to answer?

To examine how ethical boundaries are breached in psychoanalysis through power dynamics, unconscious collusion, and eroticized or aggressive desires between analyst and patient.

September 8, 2026Journal of Analytical PsychologyOpen Access

Desire, Collusion and Power: Some ethical difficulties in practice

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Authors

FBFiona Barnes PGPhil Goss

Discussion

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Overview

Qualitative case analysis examines ethical boundary breaches in psychoanalytic therapy, suggesting countertransference recognition prevents harmful collusion and abuse of power.

Key Points

To examine how ethical boundaries are breached in psychoanalysis through power dynamics, unconscious collusion, and eroticized or aggressive desires between analyst and patient.
Applied theoretical frameworks from Jungian psychology and contemporary psychoanalytic literature on boundary violations.
Analyzed clinical vignettes and two anonymized case studies illustrating ethical transgressions and shadow influences in therapeutic relationships.
Therapeutic boundaries are breached when conscious or unconscious collusion merges the unresolved needs of the analyst with those of the patient.
Unacknowledged aggressive or eroticized dynamics between analyst and patient risk becoming hidden or 'cloaked', leading to coercion and therapeutic abuse.
Harmful enactments can be prevented if the analyst actively identifies these dynamics through countertransference and interprets them constructively.

Cite This Study

Barnes et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd76758e84d0ff5b45fc7 https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.70088

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September 8, 2026Journal of Analytical PsychologyOpen Access

Desire, Collusion and Power: Some ethical difficulties in practice

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Authors

FBFiona Barnes PGPhil Goss

Discussion

Member takes

Overview

Qualitative case analysis examines ethical boundary breaches in psychoanalytic therapy, suggesting countertransference recognition prevents harmful collusion and abuse of power.

Key Points

To examine how ethical boundaries are breached in psychoanalysis through power dynamics, unconscious collusion, and eroticized or aggressive desires between analyst and patient.
Applied theoretical frameworks from Jungian psychology and contemporary psychoanalytic literature on boundary violations.
Analyzed clinical vignettes and two anonymized case studies illustrating ethical transgressions and shadow influences in therapeutic relationships.
Therapeutic boundaries are breached when conscious or unconscious collusion merges the unresolved needs of the analyst with those of the patient.
Unacknowledged aggressive or eroticized dynamics between analyst and patient risk becoming hidden or 'cloaked', leading to coercion and therapeutic abuse.
Harmful enactments can be prevented if the analyst actively identifies these dynamics through countertransference and interprets them constructively.

Cite This Study

Barnes et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a9fd76758e84d0ff5b45fc7 https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.70088

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