Psychotherapy and Mystical Theology: Melanie Klein and Hadewijch of Antwerp in Conversation

Abstract

This article examines and compares the writings of the medieval mystic Hadewijch of Antwerp and the theories of the psychoanalyst Melanie Klein. Initially, both figures are presented in the context of the world and environment from which they wrote. Klein is then explored through three particular elements of her object relations theory: splitting, the paranoid-schizoid position and the depressive position. Hadewijch’s mystical theology is then explored through her poems, letters and visions; her world, where all is love and paradox, is presented through three main themes: the abyss, the Trinity and Christ. Hadewijch’s place in the 20th Century is explored, as is Klein’s situation in the 14th Century. Both these contexts are then brought together in the subjective world of the writer in the 21st Century to consider their relevance, compatibility, similarities and differences. Concluding thoughts bring together the psychospiritual evolution of our subjective world, from schism to holding the tension of opposites in paradox.