Antonio Bolinches is a psychologist specializing in Clinical Psychology, Master in Human Sexuality, and individual and couple therapist. Creator and promoter of the concept of Vital Therapy as a self-knowledge tool, he publishes his new book You and I are six, a guided journey to self-knowledge.
What does the book You and I are six explain?
The way to improve through self-knowledge. Each of us has three psychological parts: the Parent, the Adult, and the Child. The Parent incorporates the social norms that each of us internalizes; the Child symbolizes our infantile part, and the Adult harmonizes the Child’s needs with the limitations imposed by the Parent on the satisfaction of those needs. These three parts of the Self determine our behavior. The book develops, through 100 specially selected aphorisms, the four elements that produce personal improvement and, consequently, that of society.
What are these four elements?
Positive attitude, intelligence, goodness, and will. These four elements reinforce each other and guide us to do good among ourselves and for ourselves, consequently leading to the common good. This thought has its origin in the categorical imperative of Kantian morality, which urges us to act in such a way that the maxim of your action can become a universal law. As I explain in the book, the theory of happiness defended by Vital Therapy establishes that good things are done thanks to will and bad things despite will. The four elements that allow human improvement must be closely linked, since if intelligence and will are not oriented towards goodness, there may be a risk that they will be directed towards negative egoism, tyranny, and despotism.
Who is the book for?
The book is aimed at people over 14 years old who trust in their capacity for self-improvement. Specifically, it is dedicated to three types of audience: anyone who wants to improve their personal situation and level of happiness, psychologists who consider Vital Therapy as an intervention model, and pedagogues and educators in general, as it will help them to adaptively use inner dialogue to educate young people. In fact, reading You and I are six makes feasible Paulo Freire’s phrase that “being educated is being critically aware of personal reality.”
How is it different from other self-help books?
It differs in three aspects. First, because it applies a method that can only be used by those who have completed the Postgraduate Specialization in Vital Therapy that I teach at the Higher Institute of Psychological Studies, ISEP. Second, because it is an easy method to explain, understand, and apply. And third, because one of the basic objectives of Vital Therapy is to achieve maturity through the ability of its specialists to become therapists of themselves, producing a double satisfaction in the person: the individual understands themselves better and, thanks to this, improves themselves and improves relationships with others.
You previously mentioned that the book is aimed at psychologists. Are you referring to clinical psychologists or professionals from any branch of psychology?
All psychologists can benefit from Vital Therapy. For clinical psychologists, it is an instrument that allows extracting phrases as a therapeutic motto, as part of an action to improve. But it serves any psychologist: let’s remember that psychology serves to know ourselves better and, consequently, to better accept others.