How is Integral Psychoanalysis different from traditional types of psychotherapies?
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.
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.
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.
Isn’t the idea that we need to become conscious of our psychopathology a pessimistic one?
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.
How is Integral Psychoanalysis able to help people who have emotional problems?
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 patients awareness in Keppes 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.
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?
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.
Can Integral Psychoanalysis help children with emotional problems?
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.
Can Integral Psychoanalysis help people with organic diseases and illnesses?
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.
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 Clínica’s of the University of São Paulo, where he founded the Center for Psychosomatic Medicine.