Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

University and that she had enjoyed the contact with me then when I had broached the
possibility of an interview. It is clear that there was a mutual recognition of the other as
someone who is warm, relaxed, engaging, and yet thoughtful – all positive aspects of being
fully human and fully alive.
Intersubjective presence
Had this interview not taken place, AL would not have thought about the place of religion or
spirituality. The first time she consciously thought about these in relation to psychoanalysis
had been on our first meeting two years previously. So in one sense our brief history helped
shape this present encounter, allowing AL to trust me and express her delights and concerns
about the pressures of work, family, analytic patients and writing deadlines. AL did not feel
she had anything to really say on a subject beyond her expertise, yet as she talked in the
interview it was clear she had many helpful observations and comments, which appear in
the later thematic narrative analysis. These come out of the encounter with me, so in
another sense their discovery for AL was an intersubjective event, one she could not have
reached on her own.
After the tape had finished as we were preparing to leave AL expressed the hope that I had
obtained what I wanted or needed. I reflected that I felt I had done too much talking, while
AL reassured me she had found the interview very helpful. Although expert in many fields
she felt she had much to learn and listening to me had greatly helped her engage with what
is clearly an important issue, the place of religion and spirituality in psychoanalysis. AL felt
something of my passion for this come across as she shared in the experience. It is entirely
possible for the sacred to contain powerful emotional dimensions, conscious and
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