Collection: Psychosynthesis in Theory and Practice

When Freud’s disciple, Roberto Assagioli, broke away from the practice of psychoanalysis, it was not because he disagreed with Freud’s positing of an unconscious mind driving human beings from “underground”. Rather, it was because Freud’s conceptualisation was too limited, offering only a subconscious but not a “superconscious”, which Assagioli believed was necessary to fully understand the value and complexity of human beings in their wholeness. While Freud’s work has been termed a “depth” psychology, Assagioli went on to develop a “height” one: the transpersonal psychology known as Psychosynthesis. He made will central to his psychology, as he believed it is the function closest to the self. Assagioli also developed the notion of subpersonalities, to help explain and treat the situation of inner conflict, in which we acknowledge that one part of us wants X, while another part wants Y. When subpersonalities have constellated and are “acting out”, it is important for the client to see how to meet their (the subpersonalities’) needs in order to harmonise his/her whole being. In so doing, the various parts of a person become integrated (or synthesised) into the whole. This collection introduces basic Psychosynthesis notions such as will and subpersonalities, and shows how they can be worked with in session with clients.