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What is Psychosynthesis?

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Psychosynthesis is a style of therapy developed by Roberto Assagioli - a contemporary of Freud, which takes a holistic or 'transpersonal' view of who we are, how we can work with our difficulties and what our full potential is.

 

The pain, wounding or trauma you may have experienced in your life are just as welcome and workable as your experiences of joy, happiness and peace.

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Psychosynthesis understands human life on two levels, both being equally important:

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• The 'personal' level - this is who we feel and experience ourselves to be in our day-to-day life, with all of its highs and lows, joys and disappointments and the ever-changing stream of thoughts, feelings and sensations.

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• The 'transpersonal' level - this is the deeper, invisible essence of who we are, transcending our mind and body while also including them. On this level we are spiritual beings or 'souls', pure awareness or consciousness, which has taken a unique human form and expression.

 

The long term 'goal' of Psychosynthesis therapy would be to help us to develop more awareness of and insight into our psycho-emotional nature, in all its complexity, including the smaller 'parts' or sub-personalities which we all contain within us.

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This depth of insight can lead to liberating dis-identification and can give us more freedom to choose how we respond to the events of our life. This can in turn lead to lasting behavioural change - deep and enduring 'second-order change', and greater levels of happiness and fulfillment. 

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By using the many different tools that Psychosynthesis has at its disposal, we can eventually develop wiser, more harmonious and more productive relationships to and between these different aspects of our psyches. This process could be described as a 'synthesis' of one's psyche. 

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What happens in a Psychosynthesis session?

 

Psychosynthesis acknowledges both our human and spiritual nature and has many different techniques and approaches to work with them in ways that can be tailored to you and your needs.

 

These would include; emotional release and catharsis, sub-personality work, guided visualisation, meditation and dis-identification practices, creative expression through drawing or writing, dream work, working with your capacity to 'love' and 'will', working with the 'felt sense' of your experience and many more.

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Whether we use these techniques or not depends mainly on what your personal needs and challenges are and what you want to get from counselling, as well as what we both feel is most appropriate in the moment.

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I incorporate perspectives and ideas from other modalities, which is possible with Psychosynthesis as it is such an open and adaptable system. These include; CBT, DBT, Gestalt, Focusing, Existential and Somatic therapies, among others. 

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In the early stages of Psychosynthesis therapy I tend to focus on the 'love' aspect of the work by building a sense of warmth, acceptance, support and trust with a client.

 

In later stages, it can become important to work with the 'will' polarity; this is when challenging situations and experiences are more likely to occur during sessions.

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If challenging feelings or situations arise in counselling, I will do my best to ensure they facilitate a deepening of the therapeutic relationship and your personal process. Sometimes these experiences constitute pivotal moments which lead to breakthroughs in the therapeutic process.

 

​If you would like to know more about Psychosynthesis therapy, I trained in London at the Psychosynthesis Trust:  

 

https://psychosynthesistrust.org.uk/