Earl D. Bland, Paul Hoard
Recent discussions on the integration of psychology and Christian theology have highlighted the need for contextual specificity with regards to how one talks about integration and for what purpose. Using descriptors such as domains or waves of integration, different authors have attempted to clarify how meanings and processes of integration may shift depending on the setting and circumstance. Using a psychoanalytic clinical case this article engages the activity of clinical integration by exploring the notion of perfection as understood in the normative experience of evangelical Christian life, particularly in relation to guilt, shame, and trying hard. Musing through clinical material from a more traditional psychoanalytic lens, we shift to a critique and an expanded perspective of perfection considering Lacanian psychoanalytic theory. We end with psychoanalytically informed reflections on how perfection as a theological construct may impact everyday Christian experience.