An old god awakens, briefly.
During a psychodynamic psychotherapy with a middle-aged Catholic woman, her realization that she had foregone her calling to a religious vocation led to the patient's entering a convent. Throughout these developments the therapist struggled with countertransference responses related to her own religious history, recognizing the re-awakening of a previous god representation from her own adolescence. The interaction suggests that, although one's god representation may undergo maturation, old relationships with divinity may not be completely suppressed.
Cohen
Mariam
M
Faculty Associate, Department of Religious Studies, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA. mariam@psychoanalysis.net
D002321:Career Choice; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002410:Catholicism; D003379:Countertransference; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007599:Judaism; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D012069:Religion and Psychology