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The phrase the '[[desire of the analyst]]' ([[French]]: ''[[désir de l'analyste]]'') is an ambiguous one that seems to oscillate in Lacan's work between two meanings:

==1. A Desire Attributed to the Analyst==As well as attributing [[knowledge]] to the [[analyst]], so also the [[analysand]] attributes [[desire]] to the [[analyst]].  The [[analyst ]] is therefore not only a [[subject supposed to know]] but also a "[[subject ]] supposed to [[desire]]."   Thus the phrase "the [[analyst]]'s [[desire]]" does not refer to the real [[desire ]] in the [[analyst]]'s [[psyche]], but to the [[desire ]] which the [[analysand ]] attributes to him.

The task of the [[analyst ]] throughout the [[treatment]] is to make it impossible for the [[analysand ]] to be sure that he knows what the [[analyst ]] wants from him; the [[analyst ]] must make sure that his desire "remains an x" for the [[analysand]].<ref>Sl1, {{S11}} p.274</ref> In this way the [[analyst]]'s supposed [[desire ]] becomes the driving force of the [[analytic ]] [[process]], since it keeps the [[analysand ]] working, trying to discover what the [[analyst ]] wants from him; "the [[desire ]] of the [[analyst ]] is ultimately that which operates in [[psychoanalysis]]."<ref>{{Ec, }} p.854</ref> By presenting the [[analysand ]] with an enigmatic [[desire]], the [[analyst ]] occupies the position of the [[Other]], of whom the [[subject ]] asks '''[[Che vuoi?]]''' ("What do you want from me?"), with the result that the [[subject]]'s [[fundamental fantasy]] emerges in the [[transference]]. ==A desire proper to the analyst==The other sense of the phrase the '[[desire of the analyst]]' refers to the [[desire]] which must animate the [[analyst]] in the way he directs [[treatment]].  This is easier to define negatively than positively.  It is certainly not a [[desire]] for the impossible.<ref>{{S7}} p.300</ref> Nor is it a desire to 'do good' or 'to cure'; on the contrary, it is "a non-desire to cure."<ref>{{S7}} p.218</ref> It is not a [[desire]] that the [[analysand]] identify with the [[analyst]]; "the [[analyst]]'s [[desire]] . . . tends in a direction that is the exact opposite of [[identification]]."<ref>{{S11}} p.274</ref> Rather than [[identification]], the [[analyst]] [[desire]]s that the [[analysand]]'s own unique [[truth]] emerge in the [[treatment]], a [[truth]] that is absolutely different to that of the [[analyst]]; the [[analyst]]'s [[desire]] is thus "a desire to obtain absolute difference."<ref>{{S11}} p.276</ref> It is in the sense of "a [[desire]] proper to the [[analyst]]" that [[Lacan]] wishes to locate the question of the [[analyst]]'s [[desire]] at the heart of the [[ethics of psychoanalysis]]. How is it that the [[analyst]] comes to be guided by the [[desire]] which is proper to his function?  According to [[Lacan]], this can only occur by means of a [[training analysis]].  The essential requirement, the condition ''sine qua non'' for becoming an [[analyst]], is to undergo [[analytic]] [[treatment]] oneself.

==2. A desire proper to In the analyst==The other sense course of the phrase the 'desire of the analyst' refers to the desire which must animate the analyst in the way he directs this [[treatment. This is easier to define negatively than positively. It is certainly not ]] there will be a desire for the impossible.<ref>S7, 300</ref>Nor is it a desire to 'do good' or 'to cure'; on the contrary, it is "a non-desire to cure."<ref>S7, 218</ref>It is not a desire that the analysand identify with the analyst; "the analyst's desire . . . tends mutation in a direction that is the exact opposite economy of [[identificationdesire]]."<ref>S11, 274</ref>Rather than identification, the analyst desires that in the analysand's own unique [[truthanalyst]] emerge in the treatment, a truth that is absolutely different -to that of the analyst-be; the analyst's his [[desire is thus "a desire to obtain absolute difference]] will be restructured, reorganised."<ref>S11, 276{{S8}} p.221-2</ref>

It is in the sense of "a desire proper to the analyst" that Lacan wishes to locate the question of the analyst's desire at the heart of the [[ethics of psychoanalysis]].How is it that the analyst comes to be guided by the desire which is proper to his function? According to Lacan, this can only occur by means of a [[training analysis]]. The essential requirement, the condition ''sine qua non'' for becoming an analyst, is to undergo analytic treatment oneself. In the course of this treatment there will be a mutation in the economy of desire in the analyst-to-be; his desire will be restructured, reorganised.<ref>S8, 221-2</ref>Only if this happens will he be able to function properly as an [[analyst]].