The
following article is based on a presentation made during the Second International
Conference on Integral Psychology, held at Pondicherry (India), 4-7 January
2001. The text has been published in:
Cornelissen, Matthijs (Ed.) (2001) Consciousness and Its Transformation,
Pondicherry: SAICE
Integral psychotherapy:
personal encounters
Soumitra Basu
A thief walked into
my clinic one day.
“You know, I have such
a lot of professional stress that my performance suffers. The very thought
of burglar alarms or barking Alsatians builds up a lot of anxiety even
before I embark to rob.”
Clearly, he was having
a lot of anticipatory anxiety. Still the moralist in me tried to avoid
him: “Every job has its own stressors. Why not pick up more expertise?
Nowadays, one needs to be a technocrat to be a good thief!”
“No sir”, he replied,
“I have more reasons for my stress. I have a pretty daughter and I am
in search of a suitable match for her marriage while camouflaging my profession.”
I wondered what was
the difference between him and a client with a type-A personality profile
suffering from executive stress. As a therapist, I was bound to treat
him. I taught him stress-management and helped him to relax. He was happy
and relieved to think that from now onwards he would be able to execute
his professional skills with calm and equipoise.
But the incident set
me thinking. Why was I teaching my clients to relax and cope with their
stresses? If the end-result of my endeavour is that one client can now
steal without fears tormenting him or another client can become a more
confident swindler at the stock market and if yet another client can feel
no anxiety in designing tax evasions, then what do I gain by my expertise?
My colleague warns me that my scope is limited and I am no better than
the grocer who need not bother about the identity of his customer. He
reminds me that my clients do not come to me for sadhana.
The actual problem is
with myself. I want to practise counselling as my sadhana. This changes
my approach to even a simple problem like anxiety. I cannot be satisfied
by merely applying a stress-management program for I feel that pari passu
techniques which help in the growth of consciousness are also needed.
Of course, it is common sense that such a program of psychological growth
is not every client’s cup of tea. A great number of clients would be satisfied
with conventional relaxation techniques and may panic at the idea of a
growth in consciousness unless they are prepared for it. A premature enforcement
of such a concept could have a destructive effect triggering off a fresh
stress. However, there will also be a group of clients who might be seeking
for a meaning in a life threatened by the inevitability of death. There
will be some who will suffer from stress because they struggle to live
courageously in a world ruled by doom and fate. There will be others whose
suffering might rise from the laborious endeavour to find a way out of
the perceived meaninglessness of the world. Their existential crisis is
best portrayed in Tolstoy’s anguish, “Why should I live? Why should I
wish for anything? Why should I do anything?”
A client’s presenting
complaint is an index of a greater existential problem that might be acknowledged,
unknown or rejected or subconscient but nevertheless exists. My problem
is that my training as an analyst does not suffice to unlock the riddle
of existence. While I believe that the Freudian subconscious is the source
of our atavistic and biological drives, I cannot also ignore the mystic’s
description of the superconscious as the source of our highly evolved
impulses. This means that one suffers not only from repression of one’s
biological drives but also can suffer from suppression of the sublime.
(Reddy, 1988) This also means that to increase my repertory of counselling
skills, I need a framework of reference where the subconscious and the
superconscious are both accommodated in their proper places. This pursuit
leads me to a search for a model of Integral Psychotherapy.
Integral psychology
A model of integral
psychotherapy needs to be preceded by a model of integral psychology which
is a paradigm of psychology that emerges from a consciousness perspective.
The seer-wisdom of ancient India considered consciousness to be the essence
of all existence—a concept to which Sri Aurobindo, in recent times, has
given an evolutionary perspective. He states that consciousness is essentially
the same throughout but variable in status, condition and operation (Sri
Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga, p. 235) and formulates different planes of existence
at different points of a graded universe. Thus, at one plane, consciousness
formulates the material base of existence (the physical plane). At a higher
level, consciousness formulates the life-base (the vital plane) and at
a yet higher level, manifests the mind (the mental plane). This is not
the culmination of evolution. Sri Aurobindo postulates that higher than
models of man can still evolve, surpassing the mental plane of consciousness
if an inner evolution in consciousness can be zealously followed.
In Sri Aurobindo’s thought,
consciousness is a pluridimensional reality. The individual who is a particular
formation of consciousness can be studied along several perspectives.
(Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga, p. 220) One
such perspective is to view the individual as a series of concentric rings
in sheaths arranged as the outer being, inner being and inmost being.
Another way is to view the individual along a vertical hierarchy which
ranges from the “superconscience” to the “subconscious” which in turn
sinks into an “inconscience”. (See Fig. 1.)
The superconscious is
the source of higher inspirations which impels man to exceed his limitations.
While the subconscious supports our ordinary nature, the superconscious
supports our spiritual possibilities and nature. The “inconscience” is
not an absence of consciousness but the nethermost level where consciousness
is fully involved and suppressed and from which evolution starts with
the manifestation of matter.
Superconscious
|
Conscious
|
Subconscious
|
Inconscience
Fig. 1. The Individual: Vertical Perspective
The “outer being”
is what is known as “personality” in psychology and is made up of the
physical, vital and mental planes of consciousness intermingled with each
other in spite of having distinctive characteristics. The outer being
revolves around the ego. The ego or “I” is a temporary construction drawn
up from components of our nature—mind, life-energy (vital) and body (physical).
(Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga, p. 279) The inner being cannot be organised around
the ego but needs the support of a “beyond ego” principle.
The inner or subliminal
being is actually an intermediary plane of consciousness that stands behind
the surface personality and consists of an inner mental, inner vital and
inner physical. The inner mind can directly know things by suprarational
faculties like intuition. Unlike the ordinary memory which knows the past
in fragments and has no inkling of the future, this mind has a memory
which holds an active and involved past as well as a future that is ready
to evolve. (Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, p. 513) The inner vital can hold the life-energy
free from the habitual clutches of the body and mind. This can utilise
the body for dynamic action by making the will of the mind effective.
It can also work on the organs of the body and make their actions more
supple and subtle. (Sri Aurobindo, Essays in Philosophy and Yoga,
p. 529) The inner physical has subtle senses (Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, pp. 425-26) that lead mystics and yogis
to have “visions”, hear “inner voices” and feel “auras”. The inner being
is the meeting ground of the individual and universal consciousness. Though
only a little of it enters the outer being, that little is the best part
of ourselves and is responsible for art, poetry, philosophy, ideals and
high aspirations.
The inner being is supported
by the inmost being. The inmost being or true being is represented by
the true mental being at the mental plane, the true vital being at the
vital plane, the true physical being at the physical plane and supporting
all these is the psychic being. In Sri Aurobindo’s parlance, the real
individuality emerges when the ego is replaced by the psychic being or
soul-element. One then starts living at a deeper level of consciousness
and experiences a sense of wholeness, integrality, peace, unity, collaboration
and unalloyed joy. (See Fig.2)
The psychic being
in turn is a projection of the Jivatman–—the unevolving self that stands
above the manifested being. It is superior to birth and death and is the
eternal true being of the individual. The psychic being is the Jivatman
in its evolving form while the ego is only a dark shadow of this true
integrating principle. The psychic being grows through life-experiences
from birth to birth. If it comes forward, it governs the instincts and
can transform the nature. Usually, one is ruled by the outer personality
of the physical, vital and mental consciousness held loosely together
by the false soul of ego and desire. Ordinarily, we are not aware of the
psychic being except at certain moments of life when it does influence
us strongly and we spontaneously feel an inner happiness, wholeness, joy
and goodwill. The state is not dependent on outer conditions and may even
appear in unfavourable conditions. Such a psychic consciousness is free
from psychological disturbances and helps one build up an integrated personality.
It is also free from the subconscient and egocentric disturbances. The
realization of the Psychic Being brings bhakti, self-giving, surrender,
turning of all movements Godward, discrimination and choice of all that
belongs to the Divine: Truth, Good, Beauty, rejection of all that is false,
evil, ugly, discordant, union through love and sympathy with all existence,
openness to the truths of the Self and the Divine. The realization of
the Jivatman brings silence, freedom, wideness, mastery, purity, a sense
of universality in the individual as one centre of this Divine universality.
(Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga, p. 272)
Inmost Being
Inner Being Outer Being1
True Mental Being Inner
Mind Outer Mind
Psychic Being2 True Vital Being Inner Vital Outer
Vital Ego3
True Physical Being Inner
Physical Outer Physical
1 Known as “personality”
in psychology.
2 The psychic being
is a projection of the jivatman. It is
the soul-element in evolution.
3 The ego is a formation
of the outer being and is known as the “self” in psychology.
Figure 2. The Individual: The Perspective of Beings
Integral psychotherapy
To develop a model
of Integral Psychotherapy based on Integral Psychology, one needs to understand
the origin of different psychopathologies at different planes of consciousness
viz. physical, vital, mental, subconscious. I personally use such a private
classification along with the conventional public classificatory systems
like the ICD-10 and DSM IV. Individuals who have the same diagnosis according
to conventional ICD or DSM classifications might have important differences
when assessed along the consciousness perspective necessitating different
therapeutic approaches. Thus a person in whom the capacity to contact
his psychic being is more spontaneous needs a very sensitive handling
if he is depressed. Such a person responds to a low dose of medication
and counselling in such a situation need only be an encouragement to look
inwards—the rest follows automatically. In contrast, a depressed subject
with a dominant vital needs a different type of handling as he has more
chance for a swing towards a manic state. A depressed client with a strong
intellectual ego can pose a queer resistance to therapeutic intervention
which needs to be worked through at the level of the ego.
When psychologists talk
about the “self”, they are usually referring to a formation of the outer
being which again needs to be examined in the context of one’s socio-cultural
gestalt. While the outer self is more individualised in the Western world,
it is more in the nature of an extended social self in the Indian subcontinent
and can include not only one’s immediate social group but also one’s Istadevata.
While dealing with such subjects, one has to be sensitive not only to
the client’s individual needs but also to the sensitivities, desires and
resistances of the client’s immediate social group.
While planning a therapeutic
program, it is also necessary to consider whether parts of the inner being
are developed in an individual. Even if such a person suffers from a psychotic
episode, he still can produce works of art that are beyond the psychoanalyst’s
canvas (of course, the state of the outer mind will colour and distort
the influences of the inner mind but this is true not only for the psychotic
but also for the “normal” individual!) If an individual has a developed
inner being expressing through creativity, spontaneity or a vitality that
is not stifled by constraints of the body and mind, then we need an innovative
therapeutic approach that allows the outer being to withstand the pressure
of the inner being. In fact, in certain geniuses who develop psychiatric
problems, it might be that the outer being, improperly integrated around
the ego, could not withstand the pressure of the inner being. In individuals
practising spirituality, the inner being can progress much faster than
the outer being and the resulting mismatch may precipitate imbalance,
diseases and may even facilitate death.
Counselling programs
have also to be sensitive to the presence in the individual of the inmost
being, the psychic being. The psychic being can radiate peace, joy and
spontaneity even in the most adverse situations. In our clinical practice
we often come across people who, in spite of being chronically ill or
demented or in terminal states awaiting death, can yet retain a poise
of calm and equanimity and can radiate peace and joy. They still can progress
spiritually despite their physical suffering. This is possible because
the psychic being is unaffected by external conditions and if given a
chance to flower, will still enliven an individual suffering from a chronic
degenerative disease. (Basu, 2000) The quintessence of Integral
Psychotherapy lies in a shift to this inner essence of an individual.
The possibility of such a shift is a valid reason why a counselling program
is even necessary for people who seem to be “lost” because they are either
chronically or terminally ill.
The consciousness paradigm
cannot ignore the myriad approaches to mental health that have been in
use in different cultures. This brings us to the interesting phenomenon
of possession states. What can be the thing that “possesses”? Well, it
might be negative formations arising from one’s own mind that can become
so powerful that an individual can be possessed by his or her own psychological
forces. This reminds me of a lady doctor who was suffering from depression,
pessimism and meaninglessness in life for a long time. One day she turned
up and told me, “I am constantly visualising my own corpse hanging over
my head.” After I relieved her by giving her an ECT (electro-convulsive
therapy), she told me, “If you had not done such a drastic intervention,
I would have been driven to commit suicide.” In this case, her negative
thoughts, nurtured over a period of years, had become an organised formation
which in turn was “possessing” her. (Basu, 1995a) However psychological
forces emanating from external sources can also affect susceptible subjects.
These are the “classical possession states” which are “exorcised” by occultists.
A few weeks back I had to examine a lady who was brought to me because
she had jumped into a pond to commit suicide. She has an 8 months old
baby and had shown no evidence of post partum depression before her misventure.
Her relatives revealed that a ceiling fan which was hung in her room very
recently had an interesting anecdote. A 12 years old boy (a nephew of
the patient’s husband) had committed suicide by hanging himself from that
fan some months back (This incident had occurred in a separate house).
Whether it was her own psychological fears (she knew about the incident
associated with the fan and had disapproved of her father-in-law placing
it in her room) or whether it was a vital fragment of the dead boy that
led to the suicide attempt is another matter, but what is important to
note is that one who is vulnerable can get influenced or “possessed” by
psychological forces primarily emanating from outside oneself.
The scope of integral
psychotherapy
An emergent psychology
and psychotherapy that bases itself on a perspective of consciousness
which is simultaneously “integral” and “pluridimensional” can be used
in two ways:
(a) It can be pursued
as a framework for psychological growth, personality development and psychotherapy,
and (b) it can be used to enlarge the repertoire of any existing psychotherapeutic
system by allowing different partial truths represented in different systems
to fall along a continuum of consciousness. Thus the psychoanalyst can
enlarge the scope of therapy by extending from the unconscious to the
superconscious. Jungian analysis can enrich itself by acknowledging the
psychic being as the centre of integration of personality and by supplementing
the concept of the collective unconscious by the concept of the inner
being which is in communion with the universal consciousness. The gestalt
therapists can acknowledge that an integral vision accommodates both the
“wholes” and the “parts”. Behaviour therapy can supplement relaxation
techniques by exercises that help in widening one’s consciousness. (Basu,
1995b) Subjects suffering from stress can be taught to match their outer
dynamism with an inner poise of stability and equanimity. (Basu, 1997)
In this way, any school of psychology or psychotherapy can widen its scope
of action by enriching itself from the truths inherent in Integral Psychology.
The human mind likes variations and will always opt for different therapeutic
approaches. A consciousness paradigm can permit diverse therapeutic modalities
at different planes of consciousness and can also simultaneously provide
an integral framework that can be independently used in psychotherapy,
counselling, personality development and psychological growth.
References
Basu, S., 1995a,
“Case Study”, NAMAH, Vol.
3, no. 1, p. 80-82.
Basu, S., 1995b,
“The synthesis of eastern and western psychological paradigms in the light
of Sri Aurobindo”, The Indian Journal of Social Psychiatry, II (1): 35-39.
Basu, S., 1997,
“Time and Health”, NAMAH, Vol. 4, no. 2, p. 28-36.
Basu, S., 2000,
Integral Health, Pondicherry, SAIIIHR, p. 129-31.
Reddy, V.M., 1988,
Integral Yoga Psychology,
p. iv, Hyderabad; Institute of Human Study.