Psychosynthesis

Psychosynthesis is a comprehensive psychological and educational approach to the development of the whole person. With roots in East and West, it is a synthesis of many traditions. While most Eastern approaches have tended to emphasize the spiritual side of being, and Western approaches have usually focused on the personality level, psychosynthesis attempts to view man as a whole and to accord to each aspect its due importance. It postulates in the individual a transpersonal essence, and at the same time holds that the individual's purpose in life is to manifest his essence, or self, as fully as possible in the world of everyday personal living. Everyone is in a constant state of growth, ethically, aesthetically and in religious terms, and the will is seen as integral in the formation of choices and decisions which affect future development. < The concept and experience of a higher unconscious, or superconscious, is a central aspect to psychosynthesis. Like traditional psychoanalysis, psychosynthesis recognizes a primitive or lower unconscious (source of our atavistic and biological drives,) but it also posits a superconscious, an autonomous realm from which originate man's more highly evolved impulses: altruistic forms of love and will, humanitarian action, artistic and scientific inspiration, philosophic and spiritual insight, and the drive for purpose and meaning in life. Psychosynthesis maintains that man suffers not merely from repression of his basic biological drives, but that he can be equally crippled by repression of the sublime, by failure to accept his highest nature. It is therefore concerned both with integration of material from the lower unconscious, and with releasing and actualizing the content of the superconscious (that which is beyond our ordinary level of awareness). To this end, it has developed a wide range of techniques for contacting this realm, and establishing a bridge with that part of our being where true wisdom is to be found. This realm is accessible, in varying degrees, to the seeker, and can provide a great source of energy, inspiration, and direction.

One of the central tenets in psychosynthesis is the existence of the self as an entity supraordinate to the various aspects of the personality (body, feelings, and mind). This self is viewed as a centre of awareness and purpose, around which integration of personality takes place. A distinction is made between the personal self (the I or centre of individual consciousness) and the transpersonal Self, which is a deeper and inclusive centre of identity where individuality and universality blend. The two central functions of the personal self are consciousness and will. The consciousness aspect of the self enables one to be clearly aware of what is going on within and around him, to perceive without distortion or defensiveness. To the extent that an individual is able to achieve this vantage point, the claims of the personality and its tendency to self-justification no longer stand in the way of clear vision. There are a variety of techniques in psychosynthesis to help people gain access to this vantage point, from which the most effective work on oneself can be done.

A major difficulty for individuals in learning to act from centre is the larger number of false identifications they make with partial aspects of themselves. Much basic work in psychosynthesis is aimed at helping people to recognize and harmonize subpersonalities, so that they are no longer helplessly controlled by them but can learn to bring them increasingly under conscious direction of the personal self. This involves the central processes of dis-identification from all that is not the self, and self-identification, or the experience of our true identity as a centre of awareness and purpose.

The overall psychosynthetic process consists of two consecutive stages (though there usually is a considerable degree of overlap): personal psychosynthesis in which integration of the personality takes place around the personal self and in which the person attains a level of functioning in terms of his work and relationships that would generally be considered optimally healthy by current standards of mental health; and transpersonal psychosynthesis, in which the person learns to achieve alignment with, and to transmit the energies of the transpersonal Self; thus manifesting social responsibilities, a global perspective, altruistic love, and transpersonal purpose. There are a wide variety of methods employed in psychosynthesis to meet the diversity of needs presented by different situations and different people. Some of the methods more commonly used include guided imagery, movement, gestalt, self-identification, creativity, meditation, training of the will, symbolic art work, journal-keeping, ideal models, and development of intuition. The emphasis is on fostering an on-going process of growth that can gain momentum and bring about a more joyful, balanced actualization of one's life.

Through the will of the personal self individuals gain freedom of choice, the power of decision for their actions and the ability to actively regulate and direct the many personality functions. In this way they can free themselves from helpless reaction to unwanted inner impulses, and to the expectation of others, and (being truly centred,) become able to choose a path in accordance with what is best within themselves. This implies development of a sense of values and a healthy functioning of the will, two basic aims of psychosynthesis.

The transpersonal Self, through the mediating function of the superconscious, acts as a source of wisdom, and of love. Through an increasing contact with the Self, individuals liberate the synthesizing energies that organize and integrate the personality, and become able to function in the world more serenely and effectively, in a spirit of cooperation and goodwill.