Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

clinical papers presented at conferences, written as journal articles, and books, offering a
textual-based form of belonging. People don’t have to meet the actual person because they
meet through their words; hence the influence of previous generations is still vital in the
psychoanalytic world. Consequently the theories of Winnicott and Bion provided a form of
psychoanalytic credibility, while also offering the potential for new analytic engagement.
Their theories have significantly shaped subsequent religious and spiritual engagement,
although Eigen, Symington, and Grotstein have also made unique contributions. How
individual analysts and psychoanalytic institutes view Winnicott, Bion, and intersubjective
approaches, also influences how they view religious and spiritual engagement and
understanding. For such people sacred psychoanalysis could never be a Weltanschauung,
however there is a marked change as religion and spirituality can no longer simply be
pathologized and are given due consideration in an understanding of personhood. 567 This
finds different expressions in the psychoanalytic cultures of the UK and the USA. It is clear
from the interviews that within a British context there is a gradual acceptance of religious
and spiritual dimensions, but these have made little impact on the training, institutional, and
political life of the BP-AS. In an American context, the engagement with Buddhism is a
clear and growing trend that is particularly allied to relational and intersubjective forms of
contemporary psychoanalysis.
Thirdly, from an ‘external’ perspective despite the role of psychoanalysis as a formative
cultural force in the twentieth century, it has become vitally influenced by changes in wider
culture. The last three decades have seen psychoanalysis become progressively more
567 In the context of discussing counter-transference Bernstein and Severino believe that each analyst has to
recognize that they have ‘dumb spots’ (like blind spots) where their thinking is not able to adapt to or adopt a
change in psychoanalytic thinking in areas that challenge their strongly held beliefs. This can equally be
applied to recognition of the emerging importance of religion and spirituality (Bernstein and Severino 1986).
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