Avgi Saketopoulou, "Sexuality Beyond Consent: Risk, Race, Traumatophilia" (NYU Press, 2023)

Psychoanalytic practice often relies on the illusory promise of "safe spaces" and "affirmative consent," yet these concepts frequently function as conservative mechanisms that prioritize comfort over the transformative potential of the clinical encounter. Dr. Avgi Saketopoulou, author of *Sexuality Beyond Consent*, argues that the consulting room should instead embrace "limit consent" and the circulation of "overwhelm." By refusing to pathologize the sexual drive or prematurely regulate emotional intensity, clinicians can allow the past to become a living, subjective experience rather than a wound to be repaired. This approach challenges the prevailing psychoanalytic focus on intactness and mutual recognition, which often masks normative, white-centric ideals. Instead, prioritizing the anarchic, divergent nature of the sexual drive allows for a radical engagement with the patient’s history, fostering a genuine taste for change that transcends the limitations of traditional, instrumentalized therapy.