This chapter integrates attachment theory, emotional information processing theory, and affective neuroscience in order to provide a theoretical framework for understanding the development and transformation of God image. Repeated relational experiences with primary caregivers are encoded subsymbolically as “implicit relational representations” or a visceral sense of what it is like to be a self with others. These implicit relational representations then function as templates for interpreting subsequent interpersonal interactions and organizing individuals' characteristic approaches of relating to others, including God. Thus, these implicit filters bias believers' experiences of God toward the content and quality of their experiences within human attachment relationships. We propose a model of transformation of the God image that involves both nonverbal relational information and an integration of this code with the verbal code within the therapeutic relationship. In therapy, adaptive relational experiences recruit new neural networks, establishing the neuronal basis for different ways of experiencing, representing, and being with God. We illustrate this model of transformation of the God image with a case study.
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