Clinical Analysis of an Exhibitionist Patient in a Psychoanalytic Psychodrama Group

Abstract This article examines a therapeutic experience with sexual offenders as part of compulsory treatment. More specifically, we focus on the question of exhibitionism. First, we describe our therapeutic setting: a psychoanalytic psychodrama group. Then we study the case of Fernand, an exhibitionist. The treatment revealed that Fernand was desperately seeking attention: from others, thanks to his professional skills as a repairman but also and especially, in a transgressive way, through his exhibitionism. We show how exhibitionism can condense, externalize, and project on to others, the enigmas of sex and generational differences. We then examine whether psychodrama is a tool that can be used to illuminate Fernand’s fantasies hidden behind his exhibitionist act. Finally, we wonder to what extent providing patients with the opportunity to play out their own story in a therapy, using their own body under the scrutiny of others, may help the exhibitionist to see themself in their own complexity.