| Abstract: | ![]()
This essay addresses certain complexities of dealing with the God-concept in psychoanalytic terms. Preanalytic philosophical and theological parallels to understanding the existence and nature of God find their echoes in psychoanalytic formulations of the God-concept. Centered on the idea of the God-representation, questions arise concerning the function of this representation as expressing the person's internal psychic reality as opposed to having some reference to a really existing divinity. Tensions in current analytic approaches to this problem are discussed, and suggestions are offered for advancing the potential dialogue in terms of the God-representation as a form of transitional conceptualization. Implications for the therapeutic handling of related issues are also suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
