It is the primary purpose of this article to elucidate the interplay between psychological and spiritual development. Specifically, this is an effort to examine the relationship between the psychological process of separation-individuation as it is defined by psychoanalyst Margaret Mahler and spiritual reunion as it is portrayed by Paul Tillich. The views of St. Paul concerning spiritual union are also contrasted to Tillich's perspective and explored in light of Mahler's description of the early mother-child “symbiosis.” Finally, the sense of spiritual “estrangement” as defined by Tillich is compared to the sense of “separation anxiety” as conceptualized by Mahler.
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