The Four Life Worlds A Dialectical Psychology

Budimir Rogovoy, Ph..D.


                Thesis

The late world-famous children’s psychotherapist Bruno Bettelheim described in much detail  the treatment processes of his psychotherapy, which is extremely efficient and is able to heal completely schizophrenic patients formerly considered incurable, without using any psychotropic drugs.
Nevertheless the main therapeutic principles lying at the root of these treatment processes remain up to now insufficiently elucidated, which was admitted by B. Bettelheim himself, who wrote that the theory of S. Freud often “does not fit” 1/ the actual state of reality, and at the same time proposed no new  theory.
It is understandable in such a situation that the task formerly considered by us – “to re-interpreter the psychotherapy of B. Bettelheim” has become by its very nature equivalent to putting forward some fundamentals of a new psychological theory, which might be reckoned an unorthodox psychoanalysis, as it preserves and develops further some concepts of the orthodox psychoanalysis but differs from the latter in other essential features.
As is well-known, according to S. Freud all psychic activity is governed by two principles: the principle of pleasure and principle of reality. The latter is considered to be a derivative of the first acquired and mastered in the ontogenesis, while it is only the principle of pleasure that is initial and innate.
According to the Russian psychologist Fyodor Vasilyuk, one should take into account not two but four main psychic principles, which cannot be derived one from another but have independent roots. These principles – and namely: the principles of pleasure, reality, values and creativity (resp. freedom) – are lived through consecutively in the ontogenesis as the corresponding “life worlds” but also remain in the actual consciousness at any later stage of development, and not only as some archaic rudiments but also as new active productions. Therefore the four life worlds are lived through by a person not only consecutively but also simultaneously.
As F. Vasilyuk writes, “each of the life principles – of pleasure, reality and values, which principles must be ultimately synthesized by the principle of creativity, are so strong and independent tendencies and their aims in a given situation may be so dissimilar, that serious internal conflicts between them appear sometimes in the context of the realizing process of experiencing, and the solving of these conflicts is often inadequate and one-sided”. 2/
Moreover, although some temporary and partial harmonizing of consciousness may take place as a result, many negative consequences remain, which eventually may become as, or even more, destructive for the person than the initially experienced negative events.
There are long-term chain processes in the psyche, and their negative aspects are often explained not so much by the initial critical circumstances but mainly by the unfavorable results of the former attempts of mastering them.
The above-stated propositions of  F. Vasilyuk may be used for the re-interpretation of the psychotherapy of B. Bettelheim as well as of some other Western psychotherapeutic and psychocorrecting techniques and Eastern meditational practices, but they remain insufficiently elaborated as yet and demand further theoretical investigation and practical testing.
The formerly experienced life worlds exist, as says F.Vasilyuk, in the form of a set, i.e. as an active psychic tendency. We may also use the psychoanalytic term “cathexis”,  and say about the tendency to bind psychic energy in the directions prescribed by the formerly experienced life worlds, which may seriously harm the adaptation of a person to the new reality.
 From this standpoint the psychoenergetic  (“economic” in the terms of S. Freud) aspects seen to be very important. We disagree with the often expressed opinion that the economic aspects of psychoanalysis are entirely outdated and deserve no big attention.
Psychic hyperenergizing at the critical moments of psychic development deserves detailed scientific studies. Let us recollect in this connection an example of S. Freud, who says that libidinous desires may be hyperenergized by themselves and simultaneously in their oppositional counterparts.
The psychoenergetic approach seems to us quite necessary to explain such frequent phenomena in the psychotherapy of B. Bettelheim as regressions of his patients.
B.Bettelheim put forward a number of suppositions about the causes of these regressions, not all of these suppositions being strongly convincing.
It seems to us that the main cause of these regressions is the conscious and intentional unleashing of the drives of the id in the processes of his psychotherapy, with the aim to use constructively their energies.
We believe that such liberation of the suppressed energies of the id is quite indispensable for  the recovery of the patients of B.Bettelheim, who, as one may suppose , fell victims of the unfavorable consequences of the antagonism of the principles of pleasure and reality, initially in the form of the excessive suppression of the former.
The reactivation of the suppressed drives of the id leads to regressions but it also leads to a consequent recovery.
Therefore, according to B.Bettelheim, regressions if controlled are generally useful, not harmful, and they generally must not be fought against but rather encouraged. 3/
As regressive manifestations often occur beyond the frames of psychotherapy or schizophrenia in general, all these considerations may present a wider interest than only for the re-interpretation of the psychotherapy of B.Bettelheim.
And now we shall briefly mention several other important problems which the proposed new psychological theory should deal with.
First about the principle of pleasure.
Bruno Bettelheim has proved that the wide and all-sided gratifications in his psychotherapy, which probably is a factor causing massive and prolonged regressions makes in the final results a very important contribution to their complete recovery.
Can this finding be generalized, e.g., for sexual gratification, or more limitations are needed here?
B.Bettelheim was probably  quite right that the ability of his patients for activities on their own behalf is the main aim of the therapy and a sign of the decisive improvement. Freedom of the patients is supported in the therapy of B.Bettelheim from the very beginning and with much insistence.
  But there is also the therapy of Vera Loseva with a very authoritative style of the therapist, which also leads to this result and, moreover, seems to prevent regressive manifestations of the patients.
Can these findings be also generalized into social practices? (Cf. the famous experiments of A.Makarenko, who was very authoritative but also helped the members of his  communes to acquire more freedom).
B.Bettelheim has shown how important it is to work with the principles of values and freedom for reaching therapeutic results in the life worlds of pleasure and reality.
One may “play the id against the super-ego” in order to reorganize the world of values towards “a high degree of self-regard, and with it a true regard to others” 4/
This is a precious experience for the modern times, when the old rules and sources of values have fallen in doubt, and even the existence of the independent world of values is denied by many in theory and in (barbarous) practice.
And, lastly, more about the principle of freedom.
The abundant sources of freedom may be found in the internal psychic center of the person untouched by any, even most untoward circumstances (“the very self”, if one may translate so the corresponding term of the Russian philosopher Alexei Losev).
If interpreted as belonging to the life world of freedom, these phenomena may become an object of scientific investigation, with a possibility of significant theoretical and practical results.
Finally. What are the possible fields of application of the proposed new psychological theory?
This is not only the psychotherapy of B.Bettelheim or other clinical and out-patient therapties.
We have already done a number of extrapolations into the so called “normal” psychology (every reader of S. Freud would understand that this “normalcy” is very conditional and the border between it and psychic pathology may be easily penetrated by psychoanalysis, be it even an unorthodox one).
The “four worlds” psychology will possibly allow to make untrivial inferences in the fields of individual and social psychology incl. the problems of aggression and masochism (in the broad sense of the word), criminality, addictions, sexuality and so on.
As our theory developed on the foothold of psychotherapy, it demands first of all to carry out wide psychotherapeutic experiments to prove or disprove our far-reaching propositions.
We invite all interested psychologists, especially those who could want to could want to combine the modern revival of the principle of pleasure and the high spirituality of Eastern meditation, to take part in these psychotherapeutical  experiments.
Please mailto: rbudimir@caramail.com in English, French or Russian. 0……..
Notes and literature
1/ B.Bettelheim- “The Informed Heart”, L.: Penguin, 1991, p.32
2/ F.Vasilyuk- “The Psychology of Experiencing” (in Russian), M., 1984, p.154 There is also an English translation: “The psychology of Experiences”, M.: Publishers, 1988. (This English translation has been unavailable to us).
3/ V., e.g., about “the regression we try to help our children engage in when the timing is right” (B/Bettelheim- “The Empty Fortress. Infantile Autism and the Birth of the Self”, N.Y.: The Free Press; L.: Collier-Macmillan Ltd, 1967, p. 294)
4/ B. Bettelheim- “Surviving and other essays”, Alfred A. Knopf, 1979, p.177.