Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

ABSTRACT
From the 1970s the emergence of religion and spirituality in psychoanalysis is a
unique development, given its traditional pathologizing stance. This research
examines how and why ‘sacred psychoanalysis’ came about and whether this
represents a new analytic movement with definable features or a diffuse
phenomena within psychoanalysis that parallels developments elsewhere. After
identifying the research context, a discussion of definitions and qualitative
reflexive methodology follows. An account of religious and spiritual engagement
in psychoanalysis in the UK and the USA provides a narrative of key people and
texts, with a focus on the theoretical foundations established by Winnicott and
Bion. This leads to a detailed examination of the literary narratives of religious
and spiritual engagement understood from: Christian; Natural; Maternal; Jewish;
Buddhist; Hindu; Muslim; Mystical; and Intersubjective perspectives, synthesized
into an interpretative framework of sacred psychoanalysis. Qualitative interviews
were then undertaken with leading experts focusing on the lived experience of
contemporary psychoanalysts. From a larger sample, eleven interviews were
selected for a thematic narrative analysis and from within this sample, six
interviews were then the focus of a reflexive intersubjective analysis, utilizing
psychoanalytic techniques. This research concludes that three forms of sacred
psychoanalysis can be identified embracing a generic framework for theoretical
and clinical understanding; a framework for intersubjective presence; and a
framework for spiritual/sacred encounter.