The Transference is Indeed a Cross: Commentary on Paper by Sue Grand

Sue Grand presents a case of “a near-death clinical impasse,” conjuring “God at an impasse.” She questions the philosophical premises and culture biases that inform the foundations of psychoanalytic theory. She asks how we rewrite “the psychoanalytic subject.” This commentary explores the themes of clinical impasse, psychoanalysis and religion, martyrdom and self-sacrifice, the negative Oedipus or “Jacob complex,” multiplicity of selves, and psychoanalytic witnessing. Most important, it challenges the tendency to polarize the Jewish and Christian narratives such that Judaism is depicted as “this worldly” in contrast to Christianity, which is seen as celebrating martyrdom in identification with Christ. It argues for psychoanalysis to recognize the spiritual value of submission and surrender without splitting them into polar oppositions.