Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

discuss issues of religion and spirituality. I wanted interviewees to trust me, a trust I needed
to earn.
The interview started in a warm business-like way, a welcome and the offer of coffee,
discussion about confidentiality, ethical permissions and the setting up of recording
equipment. As we both relaxed JB told that me she had ‘stayed over’ for the interview but
was time-limited to an hour as she needed to get her car out of the underground car park
before incurring another 24-hour parking fee. I experienced a frisson of disappointment as
earlier interviews had taken over an hour. 365
Despite preparation I had missed a key article by JB (Benjamin 2005a) and I found myself
embarrassed. 366 JB offered me a summary but having subsequently read this article
(Benjamin 2004, 2005b) it would have taken the interview in a different direction (I suspect
on a rather more technical and theoretical route) and could have missed JB’s capacity for
empathy. As the interview progressed JB and I relaxed which comes across through: shared
laughter; cutting across each other; an eagerness to speak and share; ongoing connection
through verbal prompts (uh, uhm etc.); engagement with the subject; use of my name; and a
playfulness from JB suggesting that I might need to go to ‘Sunday School for
psychoanalysts’.
We both chose to be self-revealing. JB told me about her son and his achievements with
touching warmth and pride and I talked about being a twin. What came across throughout
365 When I discussed the project originally I had learnt people were generally willing to give an hour but more
hesitant beyond that and this also drew on my own experience of being interviewed for academic research.
366 This comes across in the tone of voice in the recording of the interview.
200