Psychoanalytic psychotherapy and the pregnant therapist: a literature review

Abstract

Researchers and clinicians seem to agree that the psychotherapist’s pregnancy is an unique moment of psychotherapy psychoanalytic process. In Brazil, 89% of psychologists belong to the female gender, being that the practice of psychotherapy, in its great majority, is performed by women. In spite of the relevance of the subject and of its impact on psychotherapies, there are few current studies, most of them dealing with adult patients. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review of the literature about pregnancy of the psychotherapist in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. All the articles found in the search of indexed scientific publications, which can be accessed on-line, with an approach about the pregnant psychotherapist in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, were included and discussed in this revision. Besides this, the methods, the results and the repercussions of the treatment, were analyzed. It is revealed that there is a lack of studies in this area, because most of the found articles were dated twelve years ago or more. The studies are of a qualitative exploratory methodology, with small samples, from retrospective data collection from the period when the therapists were pregnant. Pregnancy is discussed as a strong catalyzer for the transference and/or for countertransferential reactions. No items of research were found on the subject from the patient or his family’s perspective, as well as studies about the psychoanalytic psychotherapy process. It is concluded that other studies on this issue are necessary for the better understanding of this psychotherapeutic moment.

Keywords

• Therapist’s pregnancy
• Psychoanalytic psychotherapy
• Child psychotherapy