Transferential dynamics in religious and therapeutic healing: an archaeology of desire and faith
Derecho y cambio social. May 18, 2026 Paulo Cesar Moreira, Terezinha Das Graças Laudares, Stephânia de Oliveira Laudares Moreira et al.
Healing in both Neo-Pentecostal rituals and psychoanalytic clinics depends on the management of transference, where the religious leader or analyst occupies the symbolic position of the 'Subject Supposed to Know.' This attribution of knowledge and power catalyzes abreaction, emotional discharge, and psychic restructuring. Through language and rite, raw suffering is transformed into a comprehensible narrative. 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.