Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

a form of dualism that despite these points of encounter, religion was transcendent from
psychoanalysis and not changed by psychoanalysis (Jones 1991).
The theme of dialogue was a metaphor Leavy used consistently, at heart psychoanalysis is a
special form of encounter (Leavy 2005a, 2005b), as is religion. Psychoanalysis is an
examination of psychic reality and solitude which promotes a private self, uniquely reached
by psychoanalysis and religion (Fabricius 1996). Yet religion for Leavy was always
community.
I define religion as the recognition by a community of a real being, how with or of
beings transcending sense experience, with whom the members of the community
exist in a mutual relationship … personal religious commitment finds a symbolic
language as it has originated in and has been transmitted by a community ... the
religious essential of relationship with a transcendent being (Leavy 1990: 47).
What distinguished Leavy from Meissner or Rizzuto is the focus on the reality and truth of
God, rather than on religious experience. ‘That God exists is the heart of religious belief of
any sort we are likely to encounter in psychoanalytic work’ (Leavy 1990: 49) yet this poses
a problem as ‘the non-existence of God may be built into analysts’ deepest convictions’
(Leavy 1990: 49). Leavy challenges this, using the work of Loewald on the psychoanalytic
concept of internalization, applying it to the central truth of the Christian faith, the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. He then addresses issues of the Christian faith as illustrative of
all beliefs, 231 before concluding that analysts need an openness to see new meaning and
engage with the dialogue of belief.
leap of faith is made with eyes wide open. The questioning goes on’ (Leavy 2005a: 162f.). Originally
published in 1982, this was the conclusion of Leavy’s address honouring the work of biblical theologian Hans
Frei (they were colleagues at Yale) who was a significant figure in the evolution of narrative theology (Fodor
2005). Like Frei, Leavy saw a parallel in their questioning of traditional interpretation and authority.
231 In Christianity, Jesus Christ is ‘the centre of religious experience. Christ is not only the ultimate love
object, which the believer loses as an external object and regains by identification with him as ego ideal. He
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