Psychosynthesis.
I have been trying since I got back from Portugal, to think of a way to start my Blog. I guess this could be seen as an extension of my profile. I am a counsellor, but there are many types of counselling and when someone trains to become a counsellor, they tend to choose what area interests them most. I was attracted to Psychosynthesis, because it covered the spiritual aspect of our lives, which can be left out of other models of counselling. Psychosynthesis was formed by a man called Roberto Asssagioli. He trained originally in psychoanalysis and studied the works of Freud and Jung, but he was also interested in Eastern mysticism and philosophy and felt that a persons spirituality was just as crucial to some people as their neurosis and defense mechanisms, childhood issues and the unconscious mind, which psychoanalysis seems to be concerned with. Of course Jung widened Freuds theory, which Freud tried to base on scientific methods. Jung was interested in mysticism too and looked at symbols and archetypes and the collective unconscious. Assagioli believed that we are not only human beings, we are spiritual beings too with the capacity of potential and spiritual growth, to develop meaning in our lives. This he considered was an important aspect when counselling someone. Of course we are all at different stages of our development and some people are not in touch with their spirituality, but many are, so it is important to include this. So Psychosynthesis can be called a psychology with a soul and is wholistic, which means that it looks at all aspects of a persons life, from childhood issues, to present day happenings and our potential for growth in the future and always holds the connection of our human personality as connected to a higher "self". I love this model.
Here is a little more of an explanation of Psychosynthesis.
Psychosynthesis: A Spiritual PsychologyPsychosynthesis encourages creative change. It fosters new developmental steps. Each step is considered spiritual when placed in perspective as one element in the larger pattern of one's life purpose. Each step is spiritual when it benefits self and others, harming no one.Each step is spiritual when it promotes the well-being of the whole of life.
Spirituality in psychosynthesis also means balancing times of struggle and work with times of humor and recreation. It means taking actions which follow high principles: a willingness to be firm in the face of injustice and courageous in times of adversity. To be spiritual is to live by values and attitudes which are humanistic, progressive and democratic; to be actively concerned with the meaning and purpose of life; and to relate one's personal development to universal development.
This view of the spiritual is echoed by other authors. A management consultant wrote In Search of a Corporate Soul, which speaks of the need for "purposeful leaders" whose task is to " ... minimize destructive individual behavior and to persuade people to sacrifice some of their own personal goals and needs for the good of the whole." (D'Aprix, 1976) Carl Jung also points to this view of the spiritual in Modern Man in Search of a Soul. (Jung, 1933) This book mentions people who may not be affiliated with an organized religion but who nevertheless ". . . have experienced the soul as vividly as the body and for whom ~ a religious attitude to life is as essential to them as a belief in the authenticity of science." In psychosynthesis, the religious term "soul" is related to the psychological terms "Higher Self" or "Transpersonal Self."
Assagioli, like Jung, posited that the spiritual realm is not necessarily connected to any particular religious group, and psychosynthesis continues to draw inspiration from all the great religious traditions. The practical psychological methods of psychosynthesis are a useful adjunct to formal religious practices as well as an enhancement of the quality of life for individuals who are not affiliated with any particular religion. The spiritual in psychosynthesis encompasses ~ anything which involves values higher than the average, including empathetic understanding, altruistic love, deep wisdom, creative inspiration, an appreciation of beauty, a sense of responsibility, a feeling of wanting to contribute, as well as so-called mystical experiences of universality, of oneness with the cosmos. '(Gerard, 1961)
Tags: CounsellingSpi RitualTransper SonalSoul Work
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