Psychosynthesis

Methods Employed

There are a wide variety of methods employed in psychosynthesis to meet the diversity of needs presented by different situations and different people. Each person is treated as an individual, and an effort is made to find the methods best suited to the person's existential situation, psychological type, unique goals, needs, and path of development. Some of the methods more commonly used include guided imagery, body awareness and movement, symbolic art work, journal-keeping, training of the will, goal-setting, dreamwork, development of the imagination and intuition, gestalt, ideal models, and meditation. The approach in psychosynthesis is to treat the person as a whole, although any one session may focus on a particular level or aspect. In aiming at integration of body, feelings, and mind, psychosynthesis has as a goal to foster an on- going growth process, in which we apply the basic attitudes and techniques of psychosynthesis in daily living to achieve a more joyful, harmonious, and full actualization of our lives.

 Stages of Psychosynthesis

 Every person is an individual, and the integration of each person follows a unique path. But in the overall process of psychosynthesis we can distinguish two consecutive stages - personal and transpersonal psychosynthesis. In personal psychosynthesis, the integration of the personality takes place around the personal self, and the individual attains a level of functioning in terms of his work and his relationships that would be considered optimally healthy by current standards of mental health.

In the transpersonal stage of psychosynthesis, the person learns to achieve alignment with, and to express the energies of the Transpersonal Self, thus manifesting such qualities as social responsibility, a spirit of cooperation, a global perspective, altruistic love, and transpersonal purpose. Often the two stages overlap, and there can be a considerable amount of transpersonal activity long before the stage of personal psychosynthesis is complete.