“SACRED PSYCHOANALYSIS” – AN INTERPRETATION OF THE EMERGENCE AND ENGAGEMENT OF RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IN CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOANALYSIS by JAMES ALISTAIR ROSS A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham July 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. 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. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many people have made this work possible, far too many to name, but thank you. You have helped me on the long and invigorating climb to the summit. My thanks go to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, at the University of Birmingham for permission to reproduce The Church at Varengeville, 1882 by Monet, Claude (1840-1926) ©The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham/ The Bridgeman Art Library Special thanks to my supervisors, Gordon Lynch, for being there at the start, and Stephen Pattison for being there right to the end. I also wish to thank the psychoanalysts who were willing to be interviewed, sharing aspects of themselves that are rarely touched upon. They gave something very rich and enduring to me. A final thanks to my wife and family – Judy, Hannah and Toby – who have seen a little less of me for the past seven years. CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 PART A. THE CONTEXT, DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY AND THE SACRED IN CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOANALYSIS Chapter One. Psychoanalytic, personal and methodological contexts 7 1. Psychoanalytic context 7 2. Personal context 13 3. Methodological context 15 Old weltanshauung wine in new paradigmatic bottles A reflexive methodology Ontological dimensions Epistemological context Chapter Two. Locating and defining contemporary psychoanalysis, 28 religion, spirituality and the sacred 1. Locating contemporary psychoanalysis 28 2. Locating religion, spirituality and the sacred 30 Defining religion Defining spirituality Defining the sacred Chapter Three. Psychoanalysis in religious and spiritual contexts 40 Chapter Four. Religious and spiritual engagement in British 45 psychoanalysis – an overview Chapter Five. Religious and Spiritual engagement in American 53 psychoanalysis – an overview Chapter Six. New foundations: Winnicott and Bion 60 – theoretical developments for religion, spirituality and the sacred Winnicott and the origins of a transitional paradigm Winnicott and religion Bion and the origins of a transformational paradigm Bion, O and the mystical PART B. THE ENGAGEMENT OF RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY AND THE SACRED IN CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOANALYSIS Chapter Seven. Patterns of engagement – Confessional/Credal 78 Parallel Lines – Meissner’s contribution God-representations – a new analytic concept Chapter Eight. Patterns of engagement – Incarnational/Transferential 96 Leavy’s psychoanalytic image of God Jones’ transference and transcendence Chapter Nine. Patterns of engagement – Natural Religion 104 Psychoanalysis – a monotheistic natural religion Psychoanalysis – a moral natural religion Chapter Ten. Patterns of engagement – the return of the Mother 114 Chapter Eleven. Patterns of engagement – Jewish perspectives 120 Chapter Twelve. Patterns of engagement – Buddhist perspectives 125 Psychoanalytic and Buddhist engagement in Britain Psychoanalytic and Buddhist engagement in the USA Chapter Thirteen. Patterns of engagement – Hindu perspectives 140 Distinctive trends in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy Contemporary overview – psychoanalysis Chapter Fourteen. Patterns of engagement – Muslim perspectives 150 Chapter Fifteen. Patterns of engagement – Mystical perspectives 154 Key figures Key ideas and developments Chapter Sixteen. Patterns of engagement – Self-psychology, 164 interpersonal, intersubjective and relational perspectives PART C. METHODOLOGY, INTERVIEWS AND NARRATIVE ANALYSIS Chapter Seventeen. Research methodology 171 The selection of research subjects The selection of research data Chapter Eighteen. Research ethics processes 180 Chapter Nineteen. Research interview processes 183 The methodology of recording and transcription Chapter Twenty. Analyzing qualitative research interviews 187 Psychoanalytic intersubjective interview methodology Thematic narrative analysis Group intersubjective analysis Chapter Twenty-One. Psychoanalytic intersubjective interview methodology 1. Contextual Issues 195 2. Jessica Benjamin (JB) 197 3. Phil Mollon (PM) 204 4. Alessandra Lemma (AL) 209 5. Adam Phillips (AP) 215 6. Anonymous (AN) 220 7. Jim Grotstein (JG) 225 Chapter Twenty-Two. Reflexive commentary and analysis 232 The past in the present – ontological presence The personal present – conscious presence The unconscious present – unconscious presence The shared present – intersubjective presence Chapter Twenty-Three. A thematic narrative analysis 245 Theme 1: Psychoanalysis - Freud then and now 246 Theme 2: Key Psychoanalytic Thinkers 247 The polarization of Klein The ontology of Bion The creativity of Winnicott The neglected Jung Theme 3: Contemporary psychoanalysis 252 Evolution not revolution Revolution not evolution A pluralistic and spiritual ethos A transformative experience Theme 4: Contemporary psychoanalysts 256 Theme 5: Religion and Religious 260 Context Reactions and Reflections Autobiography and lived experience Clients/Patients and clinical encounter Dialogue partner Fundamentalism – religious and psychoanalytic Theme 6: Spiritual/Spirituality 280 Religious decline and spiritual growth Evolving generic spirituality Spirituality as “Coming Out” Theme 7: Buddhism/Buddhist 287 Theme 8: Mystical/Mystic/O 289 Theme 9: Love 291 Chapter Twenty-Four. Thematic commentary and analysis 293 PART D. SACRED PSYCHOANALYSIS – AN INTERPRETATION Chapter Twenty-Five. ‘Sacred psychoanalysis’ and hermeneutics 301 Chapter Twenty-Six. ‘Sacred psychoanalysis’– an interpretative framework 307 Chapter Twenty-Seven. ‘Sacred psychoanalysis’ – interviews and encounters 324 Chapter Twenty-Eight. ‘Sacred psychoanalysis’ – a hermeneutic of transition 331 Transition as transitional space Transition as evocations of thirdness Chapter Twenty-Nine. ‘Sacred psychoanalysis’ 336 – a hermeneutic of transformation Signals of transcendence Mystery and Mystical Acts of Faith Channel for the divine/Other/I-Thou/O Aesthetic and Transformational Objects Love – a missing dimension of the sacred in psychoanalysis Chapter Thirty. ‘Sacred psychoanalysis’- Concluding reflections 349 Other stories – an alternative narrative of research Conclusion APPENDICES Appendix 1. Introductory letter, interview questions and 358 ethical consent form Appendix 2. Interview text: David Black 362 Appendix 3. The unpublished Freud/Pfister correspondence 389 Appendix 4. Ontological foundations 392 Appendix 5. A summary of Rizzuto’s concepts of god and 394 object representations Appendix 6. Qualitative Research Day 28th March 2009 396 Appendix 7. Meeting Mike Eigen – a psychoanalytic mystic 400 Appendix 8. Is it possible for religious thinking and psychoanalytic 410 thinking to coexist? List of References 412 INTRODUCTION My conscious engagement with Freud emerged during my training as a minister of religion working out what theology meant in the context of doing group therapy with in-patients in a psychiatric hospital. At first it seemed as if I was acquiring some esoteric knowledge represented by the 24-volumes of the Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund