ABSTRACT
A number of authors have focused on the mental imprisonment that some patients suffer from. For instance, Sharon Hymer writes: The imprisoned self is a powerful metaphor in psychotherapy. Many patients describe themselves as feeling trapped, confined, or imprisoned, and strongly resonate with interpretations that mirror these sentiments. Analysts are quick to point out how their patients fall into denial and projection, but they do not always remain as aware of this tendency in themselves as they had been when they had a training analyst pointing this out to them. Even though analysts most often regard religion as an indulgence, turned to by the insecure and by those who like to be told how to live and to be, analysts can themselves become caught up in this dynamic. Their own certainties also tend to set them and their likeminded colleagues aside from others who think differently.
