Reviewed by
Nikos Marketos, Psychiatrist-Psychotherapist
The release of the book "Hidden Psychic Beauty" by Dimitris Karagiannis coincides with the thirtieth anniversary of the operation of the therapeutic and training institute "Antistixi". It is a distillation of the experience and wisdom of many years of creative and pioneering clinical work in psychotherapy. A book about self-awareness and the meaning of life.
In the unfolding of the view of psychic function and interpersonal relationships, the concepts often mentioned and discussed in the book are the dark self, the false self, the core of psychic beauty, self-knowledge, meaning, and the thankful way of life.
Presenting his clinical experience, the author argues that the human soul is not only controlled by impulses, but potentially possesses inexhaustible deposits of psychic beauty that seek to be utilised. He insists that destructive impulses have no entity but arise where the light of life is absent.
The traditional psychoanalytic view views the motives of good intentions and deeds "suspiciously", and also leaves out love, the person, and participation with the other. In contrast to the Freudian understanding, where the dark self dominates as the basic structure of human beings, the undifferentiated core of beauty is the important fact of human nature. At the core of beauty lies the passion for life, expression, and experience, which, if not realized, turns into fanaticism, consumption, and destructiveness.
The book presents a stratification of the psychic organ:
On the surface lies the social self. We choose who we want to be towards others. The functional social self comprises a unified mosaic. On the other hand, the dysfunctional social self does not synthesize its varying data; it functions in a fragmented way. A person who has not worked out his value system cannot connect and understand emotions, reactions, and his experiences. Therefore, he cannot have a uniform identity structure. The social self loses its authenticity and falls into a false self, when, in the struggle between self-knowledge and cover-up, it chooses cover-up. The false self is produced by the conscious or unconscious refusal to face the negative elements of oneself. It concerns the alienation that man suffers when he constantly complies with the demands of the social environment.
In the lower layer is the dark self. It moves within the framework of the unconscious. On the one hand, it includes the instincts and impulses that serve the needs of survival, and on the other hand, it includes experiences that contain elements of guilt, fear, loss, shame, and other painful emotions, which are withdrawn there because the psyche refuses to process them.
In the context of self-knowledge, it is not enough to limit ourselves to the awareness of the dark self but to seek to utilize it.
When the social self refuses consciously to confront and process the painful aspects of the dark self, then the self becomes a false self. And while outwardly it seems to be balanced, in reality it suffers from disorders, or even worse, it leads to personality disorders of a narcissistic, paranoid, antisocial type.
In the stratification of the psychic organ, the author highlights the existence of another factor: the core of psychic beauty that lies beneath the dark self. Passion for life is an element par excellence of the core of beauty. It is the place where love, empathy, kindness, humanity, self-sacrifice, faith, creativity, altruism, tenderness, freedom, and love for the truth exist. The core of psychic beauty is a structural element of human existence. It develops with relationships. It is probably the marrow of life; life itself.
Contact with the hidden psychic beauty does not abolish the dark self, but it can transform it. Then the processed social self can evolve into an authentic self.
The search for and promotion of the core of psychic beauty is not a moral imperative but a desire to give meaning to one's personal life. Being able to recognize beauty in others is not a good deed nor a morality we need to serve. It is in our psychic interest.
The author also comments on postmodern society. In his critique of today’s postmodern society, he introduces the term un-society. He mentions that the culture of our time promotes consumerism, individualism, and narcissism, which is the pandemic of our times. Postmodern culture defends diversity, but people's fear of not identifying with the new social norms is greater than ever. As a response to modern alienation, the author proposes modern humanism. We should humanize robots and digital, integrated programs. Man’s calling regarding the digital world is to redefine human identity, to give meaning to human existence, and to define human nature.
Also, the book gives us a deep and existential reference to the importance of listening.
It is worth mentioning here the extensive list of reflective questions that the book quotes.
The journey of self-knowledge is ultimately a perpetual journey that starts from the social self. It crosses the dark self, discovers the core of beauty, and in a reverse course sinks the dark self and refreshingly fuels the social self so that it may be authentic. Self-knowledge is not an end in itself for individuality, but a prerequisite for authentic connection with the other person.
Meaning-making is the process through which we offer our lives a purpose so that every experience has meaning.
The thankful way of life is an attitude of life, and it is what is desired. It is the attitude of gratitude for the gifts that life brings (because they are not self-evident), but also for adversities (because they can release wisdom and motivate reflection). The thankful attitude of life is contrasted with entitlement and is part of the differentiation of the self.
The gaze that heals is the gaze that endures the critical moments of great fears, that embraces relentlessly, and frees from the inevitable. It transmits the belief that despite all limitations, existence has a meaning. Transparency is the characteristic of the healing gaze. It is to view the hidden beauty that precedes objective confirmation. A transparency that insists on reminding us that light exists. A gaze that will discover the beauty that is hidden in the cracks.
According to the book's approach, in order to see the beauty within us, and allow it to transform us, we need to recognize and process our darkness to utilise it, to humanize it. Because what we strive to hide is what ultimately hides our beauty.
Reading the book leads me to an exaltation and strengthens the belief that we can connect with the other person with the core of inner beauty.
The author motivates the reader to go beyond what has been given and charted, utilizing will and responsibility as their vehicle. He questions whether the end is final. He invites us to see light where there is darkness. He connects this to freedom. Freedom is a matter of will and responsibility.
This book urges the reader to see people differently and to believe in the goodness of the world, in times when we live in a climate of persecutive fears. It lists the number of ways one harms oneself if one insists on a negative view of the world. It puts forward the greatness of humanity in our post-humanist era.
The language of the book - without losing its scientificity - is vivid and experiential, uses many metaphors and similes, and gives many examples. It produces what it describes. It has the gift of making every paragraph the reader reads intrigue him in regards with the one that follows.
This book can be a manual for the therapist, but also for anyone who wants to make the journey of self-knowledge.
