Can There Be a Spiritual Psychoanalysis?

Abstract

Why might a 21st-century psychoanalyst be interested in spirituality? Spirituality is increasingly permeating both our culture and the consciousness of our patients, and can offer a new vision for psychoanalytic theory and practice. This paper presents the new paradigm of spiritual psychoanalysis. We will first take up our resistances to spirituality, next consider the meaning of spirituality, and then review the history of spirituality in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. We will then explore the possibilities for a spiritual model of the self, a spiritual model of analytic process, and a spiritual model of analytic technique. In this the goal is not to replace the traditional valuable aspects of psychoanalysis, but rather to see if we can learn to do even better what we already know how to do well.

Keywords:

• spirituality
• psychoanalysis
• self
• psychoanalytic technique