It’s mind-boggling how little we know ourselves. When it comes to exploring – expeditions not all therapeutic approaches are alike.
Depth psychology is a term used in psychoanalytic psychotherapy that takes the unconscious into account. It digs beneath the conscious layer of psyche into the imagination and seeks to explore the underlying motives that would uncover the source of psychological disturbance.
Logotherapy explores the unconscious but instead of delving into the hidden layers of the psyche Viktor Frankl delves into the hidden layers of the spirit. For this reason instead of depth psychology Frankl liked to refer to logotherapy as height psychology.
While the secret motives of the psyche uncover unconscious motives that explain mental disturbance the secret motives of the spirit explain human strengths. The unheard cry for meaning is the source of hope, courage and choice despite any mental disturbance, addictions, neuroticism and unsocial behavior.
Bearing this in mind, consider the Jewish concept of consciousness:
“The Lord founded the earth by wisdom. He established the heavens by understanding. By His knowledge the depths burst apart and the skies distilled dew.” (Proverbs 3:19-20)
[Note: the JPS translation of da’at as ‘knowledge’ is translated in this series of blog posts as ‘consciousness.’]
What is the meaning of this verse? What depths does consciousness delve into?
The book Chapters on the Acquisition of Consciousness says the following:
Consciousness has two functions:
a) Consciousness provides depth of understanding that ascertains the truth about reality
b) Consciousness spreads and delves into human strengths and experience, guiding behavior to be aligned with that understanding
The understanding “I am the Lord your God” necessitates “You shall not covet your neighbor’s possessions.” Why? The belief that God is the Lord makes it impossible to covet what belongs to my friend, even in my mind. After all, God gave it to him and not to me, and no one person’s place in this world can infringe upon another.
The penetration of consciousness is total, absolute. It delves into the person and sanctifies every situation. Consciousness also penetrates to the most stuck places in a person to give hope and remind him never to despair.
What are you supposed to do when you fall into the worst moral depravity or the worst suffering imaginable? There is instruction even there for what to do. From every place you find yourself there is a way out. There is a task and a mission that fits this person in this situation. The key is in knowing yourself and knowing reality.
(from Pirkei Kinyan Da’at p. 62)