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The Clash of Gods: Changes in a Patient's Use of God Representations

The Clash of Gods: Changes in a Patient's Use of God Representations In this article, I argue that manifest and latent intrapsychic and interpersonal clashes of god representations, which are inextricably yoked to transference and countertransference communications, signify the patient's and therapist's personal realities and histories. More specifically, the therapist's conscious (relatively speaking) commitment to a god representation will not only shape his/her analytic attitude—as well as interpretations and noninterpretive interventions—it may also be implicated in a patient altering his/her use of god representations. I suggest further that one way to understand the process of psychoanalytic therapy is how both analyst and analysand tacitly face and answer the following questions: What God(s) orients my life and relationships? What God(s) represents subjugation, fear, and the loss of freedom? What God(s) have I repressed? What God(s) represents the possibility and experience of being alive and real with others? In the end, what God(s) will I choose to serve, to surrender to? http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis & Dynamic Psychiatry Guilford Press

The Clash of Gods: Changes in a Patient's Use of God Representations

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References (17)

Publisher
Guilford Press
Copyright
© 2009 The American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry
ISSN
1546-0371
DOI
10.1521/jaap.2009.37.1.73
pmid
19364260
Publisher site
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Abstract

In this article, I argue that manifest and latent intrapsychic and interpersonal clashes of god representations, which are inextricably yoked to transference and countertransference communications, signify the patient's and therapist's personal realities and histories. More specifically, the therapist's conscious (relatively speaking) commitment to a god representation will not only shape his/her analytic attitude—as well as interpretations and noninterpretive interventions—it may also be implicated in a patient altering his/her use of god representations. I suggest further that one way to understand the process of psychoanalytic therapy is how both analyst and analysand tacitly face and answer the following questions: What God(s) orients my life and relationships? What God(s) represents subjugation, fear, and the loss of freedom? What God(s) have I repressed? What God(s) represents the possibility and experience of being alive and real with others? In the end, what God(s) will I choose to serve, to surrender to?

Journal

Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis & Dynamic Psychiatry – Guilford Press

Published: Mar 1, 2009

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