The author's Roman Catholic background prepared her to become a psychoanalyst. Biblical words and Christ, God's personal Word, gave the author respect for the meaning of words. The Church's sacraments, suggesting that liturgical actions affect nonvisible levels of reality, pointed to the transformative power of certain symbolic actions and words. The Church helped the author to grasp that in words, actions, and objects there are meanings that transcend ordinary perceptions, which also led her to “converse” with angels, saints, and God as the nonvisible objects matching those of daily life. Discernment of sinful intentions facilitated self-exploration. The uncovering of ulterior motives led to later acceptance of the unconscious.