IJSP Number 7, 2025

International Journal of Supervision in Psychotherapy, Number 7, 2025 Page | 64 Why is that so? How did we come to this? Is it because, as Erich Fromm showed: “Everything is important to him except his life and the art of living. He is for everything except for himself.”? [22] As a consequence of all our analyses shouldn’t we consider and focus on the human itself instead of his or her problems, therapies or medication? Our academic education has led us into the very narrow streets of our own specialisation which does less and less for the human in front of us and more and more for our own status, finances and many other, very complicated economic issues. One of our problems is the fact that psychic and psychological issues are on the rise although the motives for those issues are in most cases not apparent. Although there are less and less motives for us to be depressed, because of all the well-being society, technology and consumerism, we find ourselves in the antechambers of mental unbalance, emotional breakdowns of the unfulfilled. Such difficulties and issues become then associated with the various dependencies, addictions, or bizarre beliefs, values, or conceptions of life. We should not forget that: “One of the most important predictors of depression, loneliness, did not feature within the strong social structure of our ancestors.” [23] There, in their rudimentary culture and way of life, our ancestors seem to have known that humans are, after all, social animals and that the social systems they live in are very important for their mental health and wellbeing. However, in order for one to differentiate, one will become more and more isolated from one’s peers and here we have the paradox of the differentiation of the self . That is one of the many puzzling problems we are confronted with in our modern existence. Psychotherapy, as one of the leaders and sources for discussing and confronting those paradoxes, has a very important mission. Individuality and togetherness are just one of many others. Differentiation of the self is another important aspect, one which cannot be separated from the ominous tendencies of collectivisation that gain power over us. As we have shown, the solid self is a very important psychological tool able to face the problems we are confronted with. If society excessively accentuates the superficiality manifested by the pseudo-self and all that is under the large umbrella of social psychology, our mission as psychologists (therapists or supervisors) is to point toward the more personal aspects of our human nature and the importance of developing a solid self as a basis for a good, integrated and fulfilled life. We can differentiate at least a few steps in the implementing of such a complex goal: 1. The first and most important step is involving the psychotherapist and psychotherapy in general. From this perspective it seems to be a good thing that more and more people are interested in it. As such, we will have a growing number of qualified specialists which can enhance the idea that the concept of a solid self is of the outmost importance for every direction of self-development. As a consequence of one’s self-development we can expect, as in a chain reaction, the idea to spread not only into one’s own family but also in one’s social circle. On the other hand, in what concerns the therapist and his or her construction of a solid self , one has to have at least a practical basis and profound knowledge of the intricacies involved in the process. And, as every therapist knows, therapy itself is one of the best testing grounds for the validity of one’s own solid self . Family life being the other. The therapist is, seen from this perspective, a transmitter of knowledge and