Psychological and philosophical theories

Psychopathological disorders are expressions of psychodynamic conflicts that arise and act predominantly at an unconscious level. The structural-dialectical model attributes these conflicts to a split in the intrinsic needs repertoire, genetically determined, which represent the programs underlying the evolution and organization of human personality. The theory of intrinsic needs is the foundation on which the structural-dialectical model is built. It is based on the assumption that human nature originates from an evolutionary process that, at a certain point in the transition to humans, merges two different evolutionary lines into the same genetic heritage: that of social animals, like monkeys, which live in groups and in constant face-to-face interaction with their peers, and that of solitary animals, like some felines, which, outside the estrus period and the rearing of offspring, show no need to share their experience with peers. Humans have a dual nature: while radically social, they are also predisposed to achieve an individual identity that differentiates them from all others and allows them to gather and communicate with themselves. In short, they can live in society but also need to feel free, autonomous, and, to some extent, masters of themselves. Where a conflictual situation arises, dialectical therapy aims to recover the potential of needs trapped in the conflict itself in such a way as to restart evolution where it was interrupted. [Source]

Humans act toward 'things' (physical objects, other people, institutions, ideas...) based on the meaning they attribute to them. The meaning attributed to these objects arises from the interaction between individuals and is therefore shared by them (meaning is a social product). These meanings are constructed and reconstructed through an 'interpretive process' enacted by a person when facing things they encounter. The mind forms through the learning of social interaction processes in which individuals are involved from early childhood. The Self is formed only through how the subject believes they are judged by others. Social action is regulated and guided by the meaning individuals attribute to the situation they are in. The language is the primary means of communication for symbols, meanings, etc. Action is not a fixed response to a stimulus but is formed step by step in the course of its development. [Source]
In summary: the mind is constructed through social interactions as a tool for managing social interactions.

The psyche is an open system of autonomous agents, an 'organized complexity.' A global ecological approach that includes mental agents is necessary. Humans have an absolute need to interact with the external world and, in particular, with other human beings. Information ('the difference that makes a difference') underpins life and interactions among living beings or their organs at all levels.
Mental distress is almost always linked to relational problems, which must be the focus of therapeutic analysis. Bateson's double-bind theory (to explain schizophrenia) can be extensively applied to explain all mental distress and disorders as caused by the frustration of primary needs due to a conflict between them.
Consistent with Alfred Korzybski's 'General Semantics,' many mental disorders can be attributed to the confusion between 'map' and 'territory' and an inability to think in reference to non-rigidly defined but context-dependent logical levels.

Note: The term third force refers to the fact that humanistic psychology presents itself as an alternative approach to the two main forces of clinical psychology, namely dynamic psychology and cognitive-behavioral psychology.

Psychology is a means of improving the human condition, both personally and socially. The individual is responsible for their personal growth and self-realization. Key elements: - Fundamental importance of human needs. - Nonconformity and cultural relativism. - The individual as a therapist for themselves. - Importance of individuation and social needs. Pursuit of change. - Rejection of abstract academic psychological and philosophical thought, often removed from real life. - Humans are not solely driven by environmental or instinctual forces that leave them without the capacity or will to choose their behavior but are also motivated by an inner drive towards self-realization. - The therapist is an ally, helping the client understand the meaning they give to their experiences and aiding them in clarifying existential issues to make conscious choices.

The three ego states (child, adult, and parent) correspond to the need for freedom, the conscious self, and the need for belonging (i.e., the superego). Transactions occurring in human interactions express tactics and strategies to satisfy primary and secondary needs. 'Healing' involves enhancing the adult ego, equating to an improvement in conscious self-awareness and greater ability to manage conflicts between needs. 'Problem solving' involves identifying one's desires and needs with precision and clarity and acting appropriately (as an adult) to satisfy them. The 'script' consists of repeatedly pursuing strategies for satisfying needs developed during childhood.

A psychological theory or technique is valuable only if it helps achieve improvements for the human being. Knowledge is meaningful only for its practical efficacy and its problem-solving capacity. Indeed, grounds its validity in its effectiveness in helping individuals satisfy their primary needs in the best possible way. The reality modeled in the psyche is a function of the individual's relationships with the external world and their ability to satisfy their needs through interactions with others.

The analytical approach alone is insufficient to understand human problems; it must be integrated with a systemic approach. A complex system cannot be understood solely by examining its components separately. In fact, the causes of a complex problem in a system are not found in its parts but in the interaction between the parts. The 'emergent behavior' of a system is greater than the sum of the behaviors of its parts.

Personality is formed through sensations and experiences. Through real and virtual form receptors, individuals acquire information upon which their unconscious mental agents develop behavioral strategies aimed at satisfying needs.

Every conscious or unconscious idea tends to automatically recall a series of other ideas connected to it through associative chains determined by experiences. Sensations, combined, give rise to the cognitive and emotional mental maps that organize our ideas. Every complex idea results from the aggregation of simpler ideas. Ideas associate according to criteria like similarity (analogy), contiguity (proximity), and cause-effect relationships. Such associations are utilized by unconscious agents in developing strategies to satisfy needs.

Individuation needs, as well as social needs, express typical requirements of the romantic spirit. The same applies to the recognition of the supremacy of irrational (unconscious) forces over rational (conscious) ones. Feelings and passions, considered by romantics as the most important human values, allow evaluation of the degree of satisfaction of primary needs and motivate individuals to fulfill them.

The psyche is understood as a play of energies between unconscious processes that influence consciousness and behavior (psychodynamic conception). The unconscious prevails over the conscious. The libido is a psychic force (corresponding to the set of primary needs) that determines health and illness, both physical and mental, depending on its degree of satisfaction. The unconscious can be directly addressed through suggestive communication to orient it toward therapeutic improvement. Conflicting affective charges can relegate painful memories to an unconscious level.

The psyche is seen as an organized system of simple elements. Disciplined and controlled introspection (self-observation) is useful for analyzing sensations, perceptions, feelings, emotions, mental images, and ideas.

The importance of genetic factors (such as primary needs). Genetic mutations explain differences in the intensity of various primary needs from person to person.

Conscious-unconscious dualism, with the unconscious prevailing over the conscious ('the ego is not master in its own house'), instincts as effects of primary needs that serve species preservation, psychotherapy as suggestion based on words capable of reactivating repressed cognitive and emotional connections. The presence of the Superego as a 'demon,' an autonomous agent that oversees the need for social belonging. The pleasure principle = the drive to satisfy primary needs.

Dualism of the ego and the unconscious. Correspondence between the collective unconscious and forms of social belonging. The process of individuation (= self-realization) involves bringing repressed unconscious content to consciousness and accepting it. Importance of symbols, metaphors, and myths to stimulate and express the unconscious and its issues.

The importance of the primary need for stability and security, the social context, and strategies for relating to others. Some secondary needs are developed by unconscious agents as means to compensate for physiological inferiority and become more competitive. Mental distress results from inadequate social strategies or lifestyles.

For the Epicureans, happiness is pleasure, and pleasure can be dynamic (joy) or stable, 'katastematic' (absence of pain). Only the total absence of pain (aponia) and disturbance (ataraxia) are ethically acceptable and thus 'natural needs' (e.g., hunger). The qualitative and quantitative limitation of pleasures is the ethical problem of virtue, as it reflects the human condition. Therefore, pleasures are divided into natural and necessary (e.g., eating), natural but unnecessary (e.g., overeating), and vain, neither natural nor necessary (e.g., wealth): the first must be fulfilled, the second can occasionally be allowed, while the third must be avoided altogether.

The unconscious is structured like a language. Hence the importance of word choice and usage in psychotherapy.

The importance of conditioning and analyzing responses to stimuli. Humans are a kind of automatic machine with interferences from consciousness, language, and emotions. The importance of feedback. Individual personality differences are variations in learning histories. Pathologies result from learning that is inadequate to satisfy primary needs and require reconditioning individuals to adopt adequate behaviors to replace previously learned inadequate ones.

The importance of perceptions and subjective recognition of forms based on personal experiences. The relationship between perceived forms and the satisfaction of primary and secondary needs, i.e., perceptions can determine behaviors and the sensation of need satisfaction. The importance of a holistic and phenomenological approach. The importance of isomorphism, or structural correspondence between the physical world and the mental world. The psyche contains a model of the external world (more or less faithful to reality), which forms the basis for developing secondary needs and strategies for satisfaction. The importance of 'prägnance' which drives individuals to perceive incomplete and ambiguous forms in a complete and meaningful way.

Humans are seen as computers, with input, response processing, and output, following behavioral algorithms developed through experience. The importance of feedback in modifying behavioral algorithms.

An eclectic approach that includes principles from behaviorism and cognitivism.

The importance of an individual's relationships and interactions with others, analyzing the compatibility of respective needs. The importance of social needs.

Human beings are limited in their knowledge by the structure of their nervous systems and the structure of their languages. Humans cannot experience the world directly but only through their abstractions (nonverbal impressions derived from the nervous system and verbal indicators derived and expressed through language).
A. Korzybski helps us question our way of thinking and avoid the traps it frequently falls into, especially in the use of the verb 'to be' when the context and logical level to which an expression refers are undefined, making its meaning ambiguous while still eliciting specific 'semantic reactions.'
A common cognitive error is the confusion between 'map' and 'territory.' To avoid this error, it is necessary to develop the 'consciousness of abstracting' and an awareness of 'logical types.' Korzybski's general semantics also warns against Aristotelian logic, which asserts that if a statement is true, its opposite cannot be true ('tertium non datur'). Korzybski invites us to use 'non-Aristotelian' logic, which dialectically considers seemingly contradictory realities, both of which may be true depending on circumstances and logical contexts.
Many mental disorders may stem from the confusion between 'map' and 'territory' and an inability to think with reference to contexts and logical types that are not rigidly defined but variable according to circumstances.

In the eponymous text, human communication is analyzed according to the following five axioms:
(1) It is impossible not to communicate; even silence constitutes a message, as do gestures interpreted in some way by the observer.
(2) Communication occurs on two levels: the content level and the relationship level between the parties (desired, affirmed, or rejected), implicit in the message.
(3) In cases of conflict, communication is analyzed and interpreted according to a certain punctuation, assuming an initial unpleasant message followed by a reactionary unpleasant message; sometimes there is disagreement about which was the initial unpleasant message.
(4) Communication can be analogical (metaphorical) or numerical (digital, logical, factual).
(5) Communication can be symmetric or complementary; in symmetric communication, the parties position themselves as equals, while in complementary communication, one party assumes a dominant position over the other.
The pragmatics of communication is useful for understanding and improving communication and, consequently, interpersonal interaction.

F. Schulz von Thun's interpersonal communication model analyzes messages exchanged between two people on four distinct levels:

• Content: What is it about? (The speaker presents facts.)
• Implicit relationship: (The speaker implicitly assumes a relationship of equality or their dominance or submission concerning the other.)
• Self-revelation: (The speaker implicitly reveals something about themselves, their mood, or their problems.)
• Request: (The speaker implicitly asks the other to do or not do certain things.)

A person with inconsistent ideas or behaviors experiences emotional discomfort, prompting them to resolve the inconsistency in one of the following ways:

• By abandoning or correcting the contradictory ideas and behaviors to make them logically and emotionally compatible.
• By altering their cognitive perception of contradictory ideas or behaviors to make them logically and emotionally compatible with other ideas and behaviors, potentially distorting reality.

We imitate others' desires, opinions, and lifestyles.
Who do we imitate? We imitate people we esteem and respect while counter-imitating those we despise, striving to do the opposite of what they do and forming opposite opinions. Our behavior is always imitative, as it is always in function of others, whether positively or negatively. Typical role models in a person's life include parents, best friends, group leaders, loved ones, politicians, singers, spiritual guides, or even the masses in general.
Why do we imitate others? Our desires are always sparked by observing another's desire for the same object: the sight of another's happiness triggers in us (whether we are aware of it or not) the desire to act as they do to achieve the same happiness, or, even more intensely, the desire to be like them. The desires of those we esteem 'infect' us. Thus, the object of desire assumes a wholly relative value, functioning only to achieve the same condition as the other.
Is imitation merely passive? No. Imitation is the basis of our learning ability (think of children); without it, cultural transmission, language acquisition, etc., would be impossible. Humans are what they are because they intensely imitate their peers. From mimetic desire comes both the best and worst of human nature. Imitation should not be understood as a passive (Platonic) and depersonalizing process but as a powerfully creative activity.
This means that the relationship between the subject and the object is never direct or linear but always triangular: subject, model, and desired object. Beyond the object, it is the model (which Girard calls 'the mediator') that attracts. Specifically, at certain levels of intensity, the subject directly aspires to the being of the model. For this reason, René Girard speaks of 'metaphysical desire': it is not a simple need or appetite, as 'every desire is a desire for being,' an aspiration for a fullness attributed to the mediator.

There are continuous relationships and interactions between psychological tensions and somatic tensions. Chronic muscular tensions represent the physical counterpart of psychic conflicts between needs. Through these, conflicts are structured in the body as restrictions on breathing and mobility. A muscular armor corresponds to resistance to psychotherapeutic change (character armor) and serves as protection against displeasure. Sexual frustration is central to the etiology of neuroses. Healing from psychological distress corresponds to a rediscovered general and broad capacity for pleasure.

Psychotherapy should study the patient's environment, not just the patient, and adopt a 'problem-solving' approach, beginning with a problem definition (the dissatisfaction of a primary need) and then seeking a solution (correcting the satisfaction strategy). The therapist should ask questions to help the patient determine their problems and their causes. In psychotherapy, there should be a phase in which the patient, with the therapist's help, sets therapeutic goals and defines a strategy to achieve them, possibly including 'homework.' The therapist may induce the patient to devise paradoxical behaviors to provoke actual change in the patient's life and the people they interact with. Therapy seeks to create a 'corrective emotional experience.' This means that, through the application of new rationally prescribed strategies (even outside therapy sessions), the patient can have new experiences that make them perceive reality differently than they have always done, laying the foundation for resolving their problem. Therapeutic strategies and stratagems combined with suggestive communication techniques (also through recorded information) are used to reduce resistance to change.

The patient has an active and responsible role in therapy. The patient is a client, and the therapist is a consultant and facilitator of therapy.

An individual is not emotionally influenced by external objects or events as they are objectively, but by how they perceive them (both consciously and unconsciously). This perception, which also depends on unconscious agents, might be inadequate for satisfying primary needs. The patient is asked to perform therapeutic exercises outside the sessions with the therapist, including desensitization activities based on confronting feared situations. The focus is on present emotions and difficulties rather than past ones. The therapist helps the patient question their secondary needs and satisfaction strategies. Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are closely interconnected.

There are no drives without objects. Unconscious agents define, identify, and recognize the objects of drives (i.e., needs). These objects (corresponding to secondary needs) may be at various levels of intermediation relative to primary needs, more or less complex, real or symbolic, external or internalized. Mental distress may result from a mother who has not adequately responded to a child's needs.

It is essential to investigate and bring to awareness not only the negative (i.e., counterproductive) aspects of the psyche but also the positive potentials of each individual and everything that can enhance their well-being by leveraging positive factors instead of (or alongside) eliminating or correcting negative ones. Identifying and valuing a patient's strengths, virtues, talents, sources of pleasure and well-being, positive experiences, and relationships are crucial. The concept of happiness as an achievable goal is highly significant. Studying what makes individuals happy and triggers positive emotions is helpful for evaluating the validity of a person's secondary needs.

Life and well-being depend on an individual's interactions with others. Reality, as an individual knows and experiences it, is a 'construction' that has occurred and continues to evolve in their mind. People differ from one another not only because they have had different experiences or faced different events but mainly because they attribute different meanings to the same experiences and events. Human interactions express personal constructs, or meaning structures that individuals use to confront their world. A person's personal representation of reality is crucial in determining well-being and in the genesis and persistence of psychological distress. Meanings have a social origin, and intersubjective relationships are central to the formation and development of identity. Individuals are self-organizing systems responsible for their choices. The therapeutic goal, agreed upon with the patient, is to identify and experiment with perspectives and actions that promote effective change toward greater awareness and better decision-making capacity (by adjusting their cognitive and emotional constructs to reality).

An adult's mental distress may stem from dissatisfaction experienced as an infant or child in fulfilling the natural need for attachment (to the mother or another caregiver), which is genetically determined. This need evolves and changes its focus throughout life, and its satisfaction remains important for mental health.

Internal conflicts within a person arise from confronting four fundamental facts of existence: the inevitability of death, freedom and its consequent moral responsibility, individual isolation, and the absence of meaning. These facts are the source of predictable tensions and paradoxes, which can be categorized into four existential dimensions: physical, social, personal, and spiritual. Although individuals are essentially alone in the world, they have a strong need to be interconnected. Everyone wants to matter in the lives of others but must accept the idea that they cannot rely on others for validation and must ultimately accept their own solitude. In other words, humans must find validation within themselves. Psychological distress consists of the refusal to accept these existential facts (death, freedom, isolation, and lack of meaning). The goal of existential therapy is to help patients face existential problems with courage, accept the human condition, take full responsibility for their free choices, and make their life a creative adventure.

Combining concepts from various cognitive and psychodynamic therapy approaches results in an integrated, simple-to-practice, and effective therapeutic modality. The therapeutic practice is collaborative, actively involving the patient. It employs concepts from personal construct theory and applies G. Kelly's 'repertory grids.' Therapeutic work focuses on understanding inadequate behavior patterns concerning the patient's needs, enabling them to recognize these patterns, understand their origins, and ultimately learn alternative strategies better suited to their needs.

People's reactions to postcards, magazine photos, and photographs taken by others can reveal key insights into their inner lives and secrets.

Computer-generated virtual reality can help patients overcome their fears and anxieties through a desensitization phenomenon caused by repeated exposure to ad hoc virtual reality content that evokes similar real-life situations. The most sophisticated form of virtual reality is a high-quality video; an intermediate-quality form is a photograph, while the simplest is a written word or phrase.

There is a connection between neurological processes ('neuro'), language ('linguistic'), and behavior patterns learned through experience ('programming'). These patterns can be organized to achieve specific life goals. The goal of psychotherapy is to teach people self-awareness and effective communication and to help them more effectively change their mental and emotional behavior patterns (in relation to primary needs). This should lead to a better, richer, and more fulfilling life. Humans are literally programmable. Humans are the only machines capable of self-programming. The entirety of an individual interacts in its components ('language,' 'beliefs,' and 'physiology') in creating perceptions with specific qualitative and quantitative characteristics: the subjective interpretation of this structure gives meaning to the world. By modifying meanings through a transformation of the perceptual structure (called the map, i.e., the symbolic reference universe), individuals can change their attitudes and behaviors. The perception of the world and, consequently, the response to it can be modified by applying appropriate change techniques. [Source]

Humans are beings who think, feel, act, sense, imagine, and interact. Therapy should address all these 'modalities,' represented by the concepts of behavior, affect, sensation, imagination, cognition, interpersonal relationships, and biological/physical/pharmacological factors. The specific tools of multimodal psychodiagnosis are: the Interview, the Multimodal Life History Inventory, Modality Profiles, Structural Profiles, and Tracking. Psychologists must carefully assess patients' behavior in each of the seven dimensions mentioned above. The use of simple and original clinical tools (interviews, clinical observation, questionnaires...) ensures that the exploratory phase is pragmatically oriented toward psychotherapy and allows psychologists to leverage the patient's resources.

Humor can help relieve stress associated with illness. It serves as a diversionary tactic and a therapeutic tool for issues such as depression and coping. Humor is also a natural remedy for caregivers managing stress and challenges in their occupation.

Humans have four fundamental psychological needs (in addition to immediate survival): (1) the most important is to love and be loved by another person or group to feel a sense of belonging; (2) the need to gain power through learning, achieving goals, feeling useful and worthy, winning, and being competent; (3) the need for freedom, including independence and autonomy, while exercising personal responsibility; (4) the need for fun, enjoyment, and relaxation, which are also essential for physical health. Humans constantly seek to satisfy these needs, which must be balanced and fulfilled for a person to be healthy and effective. Reality therapy emphasizes the importance of choice and change, believing that while people are often products of their past, they do not have to remain its prisoners. 'Responsibility' is the key concept of reality therapy, preferring the term 'irresponsibility' over 'mental illness or distress.' A healthy person is someone who can consciously and responsibly manage the satisfaction of their needs. The therapist's task is to help the patient become stronger to endure the necessary pain of a full life and enjoy the rewards of a deeply responsible existence, allowing them to give and receive love. Another characteristic of reality therapy is its focus on the present rather than the past since the responsibility being established concerns the present and future.

Some needs are stronger than others, and their dissatisfaction makes the others negligible. It is unmet needs that motivate humans, not those that are satisfied. A satisfied need is not motivating. For practical purposes, it is as if it no longer exists. The dissatisfaction of primary needs can cause neurotic behaviors and the development of compensatory needs. An individual's particular act can often (but not always) be explained as a tactic to satisfy one or more needs of different types. Everyday conscious desires should be considered symptoms and superficial indicators of deeper and more important needs. Any theory on the genesis of psychopathologies must be based on a theory of motivation. A conflict or frustration is not necessarily pathogenic. It becomes so only if it threatens or suppresses primary needs or secondary needs closely related to primary needs. A healthy person is primarily motivated by their need to develop and realize their full potential and capabilities. If other needs remain acutely or chronically unmet, they should be considered unhealthy. Humans are animals constantly striving to satisfy their needs, some of which are similar to those of other animals, while others are uniquely human. Any obstacle to satisfying an individual's needs constitutes a problem to solve and a threat to their mental health.

Keeping a blog can effectively relieve social anxiety, even more so than traditional journaling. Describing one's difficulties and allowing others to read and comment can positively affect mood. Through blogging, patients can express their needs and feelings, which can be addressed in psychotherapy.

The therapist and the patient identify the thoughts, emotions, and physical arousal associated with a fear-inducing stimulus to neutralize this response through exposure to progressively more intense stimuli until a stable change in response occurs, free of fear. The patient is exposed to the feared situation (in real, virtual, or imaginary scenarios), and the gradual, progressive stimulus enables the patient to learn to control their fears. Exposure stops when the patient cannot control their anxiety and resumes once they have calmed down. Gradually, they can endure longer periods and lose their fear.

An activity undertaken for a specific reason can, over time, become an end in itself, acquiring autonomous value entirely independent of the original need. In the early months of life, motivation expresses biological processes regulated by the principle of tension reduction: the infant is motivated by the need to reduce or eliminate pain and maintain or achieve a pleasurable state. The functional autonomy of needs is closely related to the functions of the self, which sustain and perpetuate certain physical activities until they become purposes in themselves, detached from the original situations and conditions.

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) theory is based on the idea that all human beings have the capacity for understanding and empathy and resort to violence or behaviors that harm or offend others only when they lack more effective strategies for meeting their needs. Habits of thinking and speaking that lead to violence (physical or psychological) are learned through culture. NVC assumes that all human behavior stems from attempts to meet universal human needs, and these needs are never in conflict as such. Instead, conflicts arise when the strategies to satisfy them collide. NVC suggests that if people can identify their needs, the needs of others, and the feelings associated with those needs, harmony can be achieved. The fundamental principles of NVC can be summarized as follows:

• All human beings share the same needs.
• The Earth offers sufficient resources to meet everyone's basic needs.
• All human actions are attempts to meet needs.
• Feelings indicate the degree of need satisfaction.
• All human beings are capable of understanding and empathy.
• Humans take pleasure in giving.
• Humans satisfy their needs through interdependent relationships.
• Humans can change.
• Every human being can choose to change.
• The most direct path to peace is through connection with oneself.

Many comparative studies of psychotherapeutic interventions across different models have found no significant differences in their effectiveness. This suggests that what 'heals' may not be a specific therapeutic technique or theoretical principle but rather the moral support offered by the therapist, who encourages the patient to confront their problems and change themselves, or a placebo effect where the patient believes the therapist or therapy will help them heal. There are theoretical differences between various approaches that can be integrated into a broader theory, as they are all valid and not mutually exclusive. Depending on the type of mental distress, one theory may be more effective than another. The provides a general framework compatible with most known psychological and psychotherapeutic theories. The therapist's task is to select and apply one, or a combination, suitable for the case being treated, along with specific principles and methods.

Specialized tests have shown that almost all types of psychotherapy are equally effective, suggesting that what 'heals' may not be a specific technique or scientific theoretical principle but the moral support offered by the therapist, encouraging the patient to face their problems and make changes in themselves.