Notes in an Elegiac Mode on Stephen Mitchell's Papers on Homosexuality.

The article presents the author's comments on author Stephen Mitchell's research papers on homophobia in psychoanalysis. The two papers of Mitchell are a triumph. It was tremendously courageous of him to write about the horrendous treatment of gay men and lesbians, and by doing so he helped open a space where other lesbians and gay men are able to live satisfying lives. He also helped pave the way for gay and lesbian psychoanalysts to speak in their own voices to criticize the homophobia of the psychoanalytic establishment. Mitchell's change from an objectivist perspective to a postmodern/ constructivist/relational view fundamentally altered how he conceptualized the psychoanalytic process. As he moved from seeing the analyst as a blank screen to realizing the inevitability of the analyst's subjectivity as an integral part of the mix, he became able to identify unconscious homophobia in himself. In the last paragraph of the 1978 paper, Mitchell came closer to recognizing that the analyst's values influence the analytic encounter. It was as if he opened the door to his future postmodern-influenced self but could only glimpse the ramifications of these ideas. Here Mitchell remarked that heterosexuality is not a natural efflorescence but is itself influenced by and possibly originates in other motivational systems.