ABSTRACT
Psychotherapy and counselling are best known, at least to the general public, through films and television. However slow paced and awkward, these encounters have been central to many dramatic story lines – from Ingrid Bergman’s probing analyst in Hitchcock’s Spellbound1 to the conflicted relationship between Dr Melfi and Tony in the Sopranos.2 Arguably, it is the confessional heart of psychotherapy and counselling that intrigues us most: people baring their souls; seeking redemption; or the means of easing their guilt or anguish. The parallel between the therapeutic encounter and Catholic confession was first discussed by Jung3 and continues to intrigue scholars of religion4 and psychotherapy alike.5
