On Inspiration

Inspiration occurs when an individual establishes an intense object relationship which evokes creative products or ideas which would not otherwise materialize. Inspirational objects can be subdivided into "divine"; inanimate (e.g., nature, music); secular (e.g., teachers, mentors, and therapists); and the self-as-object. Inspiration in widowhood is explored in terms of the widow's transformational relationship with the self and the deceased object. In therapy, inspiration involves both access to the unconscious, and the harnessing of cognitive ego functions to carry through the inspiration to completion. Inspiration requires the coexistence of discipline and spontaneity, mindlessness and mindfulness, receptive waiting and active searching. The empathic analytic couple welcoming of paradox and novelty are most likely to experience inspiration as a catalyst in the therapeutic process.