Thérèse of Lisieux From the Perspective of Attachment Theory and Separation Anxiety

Abstract

This article interprets the life of Thérèse of Lisieux within the general theoretical context of Bowlby's (1969, 1973, 1980) attachment theory and with reference to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(text rev. [DSM-IV- TR], American Psychiatric Association, 2000) criteria for separation anxiety. Recent theoretical interpretations of the religious life within the context of attachment theory by Kirkpatrick (1999) and Granqvist (2003) are of special relevance. Thérèse's childhood psychological experiences and her later adult experiences in the religious life are presented and discussed. It is proposed that Thérèse was able to use her childhood attachment traumas and pathological experiences of separation anxiety as a positive source of motivation in her search for and response to God.