Integrity in Depth (Carolyn and Ernest Fay Series in Analytical Psychology) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: lunar masculinity, solar femininity, solar masculinity, Jane Austen, Tao Te Ching, Paradise Lost (more...)

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Product Description

A measure of our need for integrity, John Beebe writes, is that "we rarely allow ourselves an examination of the concept itself. To do so would betray an unspoken philosophic, poetic, and psychological rule of our culture: not to disturb the mystery of what we desire most." In this book, Beebe reveals much about the nature of integrity while honoring its central mystery. Beebe traces the evolution of the concept from a moral and theological notion to a psychological one. He explores the Eastern understanding of integrity, as well, basing his discussion on pre-Confucian manuscripts of the Tao Te Ching. Viewing anxiety and shame as functions of integrity, he shows the contributions depth psychology can make to integrity's development. He also looks at the ways sex difference and our resulting notions of gender have colored our culture's experience and expression of integrity. Drawing on his own years of experience as a psychotherapist, Beebe shows how the holding environment of psychotherapy can use delight and rage, and dreams and transference to reveal and foster individual integrity. "Integrity in Depth" is a groundbreaking work that moves the reader to think in a new way about the psychological basis of moral wholeness. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

JOHN BEEBE is a psychiatrist and Jungian analyst and a past president of the C. G. Jung Insistitute of San Francisco. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 165 pages
• Publisher: Fromm Intl; 1st paperback ed edition (June 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880642130
• ISBN-13: 978-0880642132
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,099,215 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Integrity in Action, August 17, 1998

By	Tom Fulton (Minneapolis, Minnesota USA) - See all my reviews

Integrity in Depth, by John Beebe, is a quiet, profound meditation on the concept of integrity. Dr. Beebe, a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst and scholar, has found a way to write effectively about a term that encompasses many qualities including authenticity, completeness, wholeness, and honesty. I found the book wise, tolerant, sophisticated but accessible, succinct, and filled with subtle compassion.

Beebe explores integrity from a psychological rather than moral perspective, while honoring the links between the two. For Beebe, integrity is neither blind obedience to "an elaborated system of justice." Nor is it to be confused with heroic inflation or ego-driven rebellion. Beebe locates integrity in the interplay of what Andrew Samuels terms "original morality" and "moral imagination." Integrity is found not in the outcome of a struggle between the two, but in the pattern of a dance. Integrity resides in the space between.

Beebe maintains that integrity is not selflessness, but balance between ego and Self. He writes: "Cicero and Franklin discovered a paradox: integrity, which would seem to presuppose a conscience uncontaminated by concern for political advantage, cannot be separated from personal ambition for approval. Rather it is the right way to win that approval." To Beebe, true integrity imparts a quality of delight.

Integrity in Depth explores the concept of integrity in many contexts. It includes important contributions to the discussion of ethics in psychotherapy. It also includes interesting ideas on the relationship of anxiety and shame to integrity, the function of the dream in restoring integrity, the relationship of eastern thought to integirty, and the connections between integrity and Twelve Step programs. There is an extended reflection on integrity and the work of Jung and some rather profound Post-Jungian observations on integirty and gender.

One reason why the book had an impact on me is that it contains so much evidence of Beebe's own integrity. This is manifested in many ways - the entire tone of the book, the precision of the language, the care with which ideas are attributed to others, and the author's willingness to include examples of his own experiences and feelings. In this sense, the book shows as well as tells the meaning of integrity. This is a fine book of obvious relevance to both personal life and the growing moral bewilderment of modern American society.