The Loss of the Selfobject TIE and Religious Fundamentalism

Abstract

This article asserts that religious fundamentalism is best understood as an interpersonal phenomenon rather than an intrapsychic belief system, especially when it functions as resistance within the context of insight oriented psychotherapy. Two manifestations of religious fundamentalism are examined. Conservative Fundamentalism, Liberal Fundamentalism, and their respective meanings in the life of a client are discussed from the psychoanalytic perspective of intersubjectivity theory (Stolorow, Brandchaft, & Atwood, 1987).