Transferential dynamics in religious and therapeutic healing: an archaeology of desire and faith
Paulo Cesar Moreira, Terezinha Das Graças Laudares, Stephânia de Oliveira Laudares Moreira, Augusto Cesar Malta Laudares Moreira, Humberto Cesar Machado, Marcelo Ferreira Caixeta, Eduardo di Oliveira Pires, Júlio Roquete Cardoso, Daniel Barbosa da Silva, Pedro Henrique Rodrigues Cardoso
Derecho y cambio social. May 18, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.54899/dcs.v23i90.5553 via OpenAlex
Summary
Healing in both Neo-Pentecostal rituals and psychoanalytic clinics depends on the transferential bond, where the religious leader or analyst occupies the symbolic place of the 'Subject Supposed to Know.' This attribution of knowledge and power enables abreaction, transforming raw suffering into a comprehensible narrative through language and rite. The study, drawing on Freud, Lacan, and Lévi-Strauss, argues that therapeutic efficacy lies in offering a solid matrix of meaning for the subject's helplessness, allowing symbolization of trauma and symptomatic stabilization.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Healing in both Neo-Pentecostal rituals and psychoanalytic clinics depends on the transferential bond, where the religious leader or analyst occupies the symbolic place of the 'Subject Supposed to Know,' enabling abreaction and symptomatic stabilization. |
Abstract
This article establishes a deep comparative analysis between the dynamics of transference in Neo-Pentecostal healing rituals and the practice of contemporary psychoanalytic clinics. The starting point of the investigation focuses on specific clinical manifestations, such as somatization and depression, seeking to demonstrate how the so-called "symbolic efficacy" acts in the remission of psychosomatic symptoms and the relief of psychic suffering. To support this thesis, the study is based on the theoretical framework of Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and Claude Lévi-Strauss, articulating fundamental concepts of metapsychology and structural anthropology. The research reveals that the religious leader, within the ritual context, comes to occupy the symbolic place of the "Subject Supposed to Know," a position analogous to that of the analyst in the transferential process. This attribution of knowledge and power by the believer or patient is what allows the catalysis of abreaction processes, providing a path for emotional discharge and psychic restructuring. Through language and rite, raw and unnamable suffering is transformed into a comprehensible narrative. It is concluded that healing, in both examined instances, does not occur in isolation but depends intrinsically on the precise management of the transferential bond. Therapeutic efficacy lies in the ability of the system—whether religious or clinical—to offer a solid matrix of meaning for the subject's helplessness. Thus, the symbolization of trauma allows the individual to resignify their pain, integrating it into a new subjective structure that favors symptomatic stabilization and emotional rebalancing.