Poetic Attachment

The shift from lament to praise in the psalms: A psychodynamic phenomenon

“…The lament psalms demonstrate that this same dynamic is at work in the supplicant’s representations, perhaps most especially the representation of God (cf. Strawn, 2014, p. 418; Cohen, 2010, p. 72). Something about life is not right and this initiates the lament (Brueggemann, 1995, p. 105).…”

“…The mutually informative relationship between the therapeutic process and the ‘psalmic process’ (Strawn, 2014) requires further comment. For one thing, it must be granted that the kind of transformational work described above is not reflected in each and every lament psalm.…”

“…At this point, the ‘re-utterability’ of the Psalms is crucial (Brueggemann, 2014). They can be used, repeatedly, even as a script (Janowski, 2013, p. 85; Strawn, 2014). That is important because the situation is unlikely to be a once-for-all sort of victory but rather a protracted process.…”

“…That is important because the situation is unlikely to be a once-for-all sort of victory but rather a protracted process. In the Psalms, moreover, this process is ‘one that is publicly available … in a way that most psychoanalytic therapies are not’ (Strawn, 2014, p. 415).…”

“…Happily, more recent biblical scholarship has once again benefited from psychological research (see, inter alia , Vogels, 1981; 1983; Joyce, 1993; Brueggemann, 1995, pp. 98–111; 2009; Rollins, 1999; Kille, 2001; Rollins & Kille, 2007; Strawn & Strawn, 2012; Strawn, 2012; 2014; Carr, 2014; Frechette, 2015), with some psychological and pastoral care/theology research also engaging the Bible, including, in some cases, the Psalms (see, e.g., Capps, 1981, pp. 47–97; Kahn with Solomon, 1986; Fromm, 1991, pp.…”