Sacred Psychoanalysis - etheses Repository - University of ...

pluralistic, pragmatic and integrative (Sandler and Dreher 1995) and some see this as
essential for the very survival of psychoanalysis itself . 568 The desire for the sacred is a
powerful dynamic that demands attention and finds new expression in contemporary
psychoanalysis (Orsi 2004; Lynch 2007a). Through the ongoing development of
intersubjective and relational approaches, with a genuine engagement of the ‘other/Other’,
religion and spirituality have found a voice. This matches the growth of spirituality as a
vital part of wider social and cultural developments (Lynch 2007b). Yet this emerging
interest in spirituality is focused in the nature of encounter and transformation.
Fourthly, another voice emerges by entering into the encounter of two people, exploring the
sacred, drawing from religious, spiritual, ontological, philosophical, and autobiographical
concepts to interpret. This was revealed in the psychoanalytic intersubjective methodology
applied to the interviews, utlizing conscious and unconscious processes. Such unexpected
encounters show the potential for I-Thou moments to happen spontaneously. Such
encounters are sacred, where the sacred refers to psychological and spiritual processes that
are: contained within a boundaried space (physical or psychical); that are intentionally
sought and accidentally found; and marked by presence and absence of the other/Other
(Reiland 2004).
The biblical passage that moved from the unconscious to the conscious in my interview with
Grotstein was St. Paul’s exposition on love found in the first book of Corinthians, chapter
thirteen. However the particular verses come from the end of the chapter in verse twelve,
‘For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face’. This summed up the
568 Kovel expressed this thought as early as 1990 (Kovel 1990).
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