Q.  How is Integral Psychoanalysis different from traditional types of psychotherapies?

A. There are many distinctions. While most traditional psychotherapies look for answers to problems in something that occurred in the past, or in some repressed or primitive drive emanating from the unconscious, or a chemical imbalance in the body or brain, Integral Psychoanalysis proposes something dramatically different: all human problems stem from our inverted desire to destroy or deny goodness, truth and beauty which exist in the inner and outer reality.

Dr. Keppe sees the cause of man’s problems originating from his psychological life and which is the result of his Psychological Inversion . We do this because we operate primarily from strong feelings of Envy, which are founded on an inverted sense of values. This is one of the great discoveries of the creator of Integral Psychoanalysis, and it is profoundly different from other psychotherapeutic or philosophical approaches.

Integral Psychoanalysis helps the individual, through the Dialectic Technique of Interiorization, to understand more clearly the feelings, thoughts and actions in his inner self and his life in general and how they adversely affect him. In this way, erroneous thoughts, actions and behaviors can be dealt with in a realistic and practical way.

 

Q. Isn’t the idea that we need to become conscious of our psychopathology a pessimistic one?

 

A. In Keppe’s view, the unconscious is not natural, but is created by us when we refuse or deny consciousness. We are not hopeless victims of something that exists outside of ourselves – childhood traumas, family problems, the environment or societal influences – but we are the creators of our own suffering.

The process of becoming conscious of our envy and inversion, which produces untold anguish and suffering in all human beings to a greater or lesser degree, allows us to truly heal, not just band-aid over the problem with more sophisticated masks, behavior strategies and defense mechanisms.

The deep psychological reasons for our attitudes, behaviors and actions cannot be addressed by simply modifying our behavior, adopting more positive thinking or taking medications. Through the correct use of the Will we can personally modify or stop the sabotaging and destructive thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behaviors. In other words, we are not victims.

 

Q.  How is Integral Psychoanalysis able to help people who have emotional problems?

 

A. The client is brought to deeply reflect on his own attitudes, actions and behaviors to discover the truth behind his pathology. This is done through the Dialectic Technique of Interiorization, which uses facts, situations and problems in the person’s external reality or life as a mirror to understand more clearly what is going on in his inner psychological life.

Integral Psychoanalysis helps the client to see that everything on the outside happens internally first, and any “bad” or negative problems in his external life reflects something “bad” or negative that he is doing against himself. This highly effective process elicits unedited responses from the patient that reveal his innermost thoughts and feelings. In this way, the inner psychological life of the client can be brought to the patient’s awareness - in Keppe’s words, conscientized.  When the problem is conscientized, we become aware of what is really going on inside of us and steps can be taken to address and correct the problem that is causing anguish and distress.

 

Q.  I have a lot of problems and challenges with my family, co-workers and people in general. How could Integral Psychoanalysis help me deal with this?

 

A. The tendency of all individuals is to see that the cause of their difficult relationships lies in external factors – either in people or the specific situations involved. In most cases, the nucleus of the problem lies where we can never see it: inside of us.

In trying to solve our problems, our initial tendency leads us to destructive “solutions”, such as breaking apart important relationships, changing jobs, cities, houses – or any other external change.

By not taking responsibility for our lives, we stay stuck in our unconscious pathology. The role of Integral Psychoanalysis is to lead us to the realization of how our unconscious destructive attitudes harm us, and how we can correct them.

 

Q.  Can Integral Psychoanalysis help children with emotional problems?

 

A. Yes, children are extremely responsive to Integral Psychoanalysis. Analysts trained in the method of Integral Psychoanalysis have helped many children who developed pathological behaviors and attitudes at a young age. We strongly advise the parents to also do analysis because when a parent becomes aware of their own problems and difficulties, they are more readily able to help their child.

 

Q.  Can Integral Psychoanalysis help people with organic diseases and illnesses?

 

A. Dr. Norberto Keppe has specialized in the field of psychosomatic medicine. For thirty years, he worked in the largest hospital in Latin America, the Hospital das Clínicas of the University of São Paulo, where he founded the Center for Psychosomatic Medicine.

His methodology has proved to be the best psychotherapeutic approach, not only as a preventative treatment but also as a curative one because it brings balance to the psychoneuroimmunological system, reinforcing the natural defenses of the organism.

This methodology achieves surprising results by curing a wide range of illnesses, including autoimmune diseases, viral-related disorders, structural and functional diseases, tumors and allergies, and helps to improve the recovery of all kinds of illnesses.

 

Glossary of Terms

ALIENATION - The voluntary but often unperceived attitude of detaching oneself from reality and especially from the consciousness of one’s errors. When we are unwilling to accept consciousness of something, we use many different things to alienate ourselves, among them sex, power, money, hyperactivity, travel, television, alcohol and drugs.

 

ANALYTICAL TRILOGY - A scientific theory and methodology created by Brazilian psychoanalyst Norberto R. Keppe, Ph.D., which unifies the fields of science, philosophy and theology. In the individual this corresponds to the unification of feeling, thought and action that results in full consciousness.

BEING - One’s essence, which is fundamentally good, beautiful and truthful.

CENSORSHIP - The prevention of disturbing or painful thoughts, feelings or actions from reaching consciousness except in a disguised form, especially consciousness of psychosocial pathology.

CONSCIOUSNESS - The component of waking awareness, both inside and outside oneself, perceptible by a person at any given instant. Includes awareness of right and wrong, of psychopathological attitudes and of goodness, truth and beauty.

CONSCIENTIZATION - A word coined in English as a synonym for the original in Portuguese used by Dr. Keppe to describe the psychological process of becoming aware of reality, both external and internal, through a mixed process of feeling and knowing.

ENVY - While the dictionary defines "envy" as a combination of discontent, resentment and desire -- usually for the possessions, advantages or qualities of another, Keppe adds a new dimension to this definition, broader than ordinary jealousy and closer to the Latin root of the word: invidere (in=non, videre=to see). Keppe sees envy as a psychological blindness, a negation of awareness, an unconscious wish to destroy the goodness and beauty we see not just in others but in our own lives as well. Although Keppe was originally trained as a Freudian analyst, he observed in his clinical practice that his patients exhibited envy that was not, as Freud proposed, sexually based. Instead, it was due to a broader rejection of love, an unconscious dismissal of the goodness, truth and beauty in oneself and in others. In Keppe’s opinion, envy, although mainly unseen, is the primary destructive psychological force behind all ills -- mental, physical and social.

EXTERNALIZE/EXTERIORIZE - To give or attribute an external form or objective character outside the self to states of mind, attitudes, etc.

FEELINGS - Keppe proposes that the only real feeling is love, and therefore that envy, hate, anger are not true feelings but primarily attitudes taken against love.

IDEALIZE - To regard or show as perfect or more nearly perfect than is true.

IDENTIFICATION - To recognize in another person one’s own characteristics, good or bad. We can identify with someone without realizing it.

INCONSCIENTIZATION / INCONSCIENTIZE - Coined by Keppe to describe the willful attitude of concealing, repressing or denying one’s consciousness. Hiding from oneself something one does not wish to see.

INTERIORIZATION - Coined by Keppe to describe the comprehensive process of perceiving the existence of an inner psychological universe greater than our external universe: virtually, the existence in us of the beauty, truth and goodness of the Creator. The most important process in Analytical Trilogy because it constitutes a return to one’s inner self, to the source of life and happiness.

INTERNALIZE / INTERIORIZE - To make (others’, especially the prevailing attitudes, ideas, norms, etc.) a part of one’s own patterns of thinking.

INVERSION – A psychological process, first observed by Keppe in 1977 and unique to his work, in which values and the perception of reality are inverted in the individual and in society. Examples: seeing good in something evil and evil in something good; believing that reality, not fantasy, causes suffering; seeing work as a sacrifice and laziness as pleasurable; thinking that love brings suffering and pain; and making wealth, prestige and power the most important goal of all.

NEUROSIS - Any of various mental or emotional disorders involving symptoms such as insecurity, anxiety, depression and irrational fears. According to Keppe, all human beings are neurotic to a greater or lesser degree.

PARANOIA - Irrational distrust of others, delusions of persecution, often strenuously defended with apparent logic and reason.

PROJECT - To externalize or exteriorize (a thought, feeling or action/attitude) so that it appears to have objective reality.

PROJECTION - The unconscious act or process of ascribing to others one’s own ideas, impulses or emotions, especially when they are considered undesirable or cause anxiety.

PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION AND PROJECTIVE IDEALIZATION - are two sides of the same coin, so to speak, in which a person sees in someone else his own most serious defects or the qualities he imagines himself to have. Both types of projection involve unreal, delusional ideas.

In PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION, an advanced stage of projection of a person’s pathology, the individual sees the other person as being the cause of his problems and unhappiness. The target person(s) is usually emotionally linked to the individual and does not have the problems/attitudes ascribed to him. The sick person generally projects his own defects; that is, sees them in the very person or persons who are good to him. Envy is the underlying cause of projective identification, a theory initially proposed by Melanie Klein.

In PROJECTIVE IDEALIZATION, an even more highly advanced stage of idealization, the person imagines that the object (usually a loved one) possesses ideals and qualities he himself fails to incorporate into himself or his life. Discovered by Norberto Keppe, projective idealization is another expression of envy in the Keppean sense and something that everyone does to some extent, imagining qualities the object does not possess. Very often the projection is an inversion whereby the person sees his own qualities in someone sicker, more unbalanced – exactly the opposite of what occurs in the process of projective identification.

Psychopathology – The study of psychological illness. Also used as a synonym for psychological illness.

SANITY - Soundness of judgment or reason. Keppe considers a person sane if they are willing and have the humility to accept the consciousness of their envy as well as enough self-control to curb thoughts and actions based on envious impulses. In short, sanity means living and acting in accordance with the goodness, truth and beauty inherent in one’s being.

TRUTH - That which is real; that which exists, good or bad. Truth is absolute, the same for everyone, never relative. The same holds true for all untruth, falsehood, lying. For example, spoiled food is not good for anyone; aggression hurts everyone; tyranny is not beneficial for anyone; love is good for everyone; oxygen is good and necessary for everyone.

UNCONSCIOUS, THE - Defined in traditional psychoanalytical theory as the division of the mind containing elements of psychic makeup, such as memories or repressed desires that are not subject to conscious perception or control but that often affect conscious thoughts and behavior. In Keppe’s view, the unconscious exists only as a negation of consciousness, which exists prior to it. He does not consider the unconscious to be an actual “compartment” in the psyche, but sees it as the effort we make to hide our problems, especially our envy. Because our psychopathology is too shameful to admit, we try to ignore it any way we can. As a result, it not only continues to exist but its negative force becomes even greater.

Will, the - A person’s acceptance or denial of the perception of consciousness.

Source: http://trilogiaanalitica.com.br/english/html/body_glossary.html#Conscientization

 

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