Assagioli psychosynthesis: personality theory

[Teacher]

The number of subpersonalities is infinite. They are changeable. The more of them, the more a person is inwardly richer, but also less purposeful.
If there is analysis (decomposition into parts), then there is also synthesis (creation of a whole from parts).

• In order to find the cause of disharmony, neurosis, analysis is preferable.
• In order to create harmony, homeostasis, synthesis is preferable.

An imbalance (mental discomfort) often occurs because our mental processes are scattered or even contradict each other.

Personality theory according to Assagioli

Roberto Assagioli (1888 - 1974) believed that in the process of psychosynthesis, these "parts" are needed, these disparate mental processes, desires, aspirations, first to realize, and then to unite. But not just unite, but unite so that harmony arises.

Psychosynthesis is based on Freud's psychoanalysis (you will now notice the similarity of terminology), but the originality of certain theoretical views and methodological approaches in treatment allowed Assagioli to create an independent psychotherapeutic direction.

The personality structure, or "map of the inner world", according to Assagioli, consists of:

The lower unconscious is the most primitive part of our personality.

It includes:

• the simplest forms of mental activity that govern the life of the body;
• basic drives and primitive urges;
• numerous complexes that carry a strong emotional charge;
• samples of nightmares and fantasies;
• uncontrolled parapsychic processes.

The secondary unconscious (preconscious) is the area where all mental skills and states reside.

Here the assimilation of the experience gained takes place, the fruits of our mind are born and ripen. The secondary unconscious and consciousness are closely related and can spontaneously pass into each other.

The higher unconscious (super-unconscious) is an area of formation and a source of inspiration, creativity, heroism, altruism and other higher feelings. Here, according to Assagioli, the higher parapsychic functions and spiritual energy are generated and concentrated.

It cannot be said that the lower unconscious is "worse" than the higher. It's just that the lower unconscious is the beginning, the foundation, and the super-unconscious is the reserve for the development of the personality.

The field of consciousness is a part of the personality that we directly perceive. It is a continuous stream of sensations, thoughts, desires available to our observation and analysis.

The Conscious Self is the center of our consciousness, but it is not the part of the personality we are aware of (the field of consciousness). Assagioli emphasizes this difference: "The difference between them is in a sense similar to the difference between the illuminated area of the screen and the images projected on it." It is this element of personality that Assagioli calls Ego .

The Higher Self is our true essence. The conscious self changes or disappears when consciousness is impaired (coma, fainting, anesthesia, hypnosis, etc.). The Higher Self does not change or disappear.

Therefore, Assagioli calls him the true I and believes that it is from him, after deep sleep, fainting or anesthesia, that the I returns to the “field of consciousness”, that is, it begins to be realized by us again.

Assagioli himself writes: “In reality there are no two Selves, two independent and separate beings. There is only I, which manifests itself at different levels of consciousness and self-comprehension. "

Awareness of the personal I is a condition of mental health, the realization of the transpersonal I is a sign of spiritual perfection.

Our psyche is not isolated, it is, in the figurative expression of Ferrucci, floating in the ocean, which Carl Jung called the collective unconscious. According to Jung, the collective unconscious contains the experience of all mankind and is passed down from generation to generation. Assagioli emphasizes that the outer oval of his scheme "The Structure of Personality", which does not accidentally represent the dotted line, should be regarded not as "separating", but only as "demarcating" with Jung's collective unconscious.

Technique of psychosynthesis

The main tasks of psychosynthesis, according to Assagioli, are:

• comprehension of your true (higher) I,
• achieving on the basis of this inner harmony,
• establishing adequate relations with the outside world, including those around them.

There are two main methods used in psychosynthesis:

1) method of disidentification,

2) work on subpersonalities.

Both methods are based on a psychological principle, which Assagioli formulated as follows: “We are dominated by everything that we identify with. We can rule over that and control everything with which we have dis-identified."

Disidentification

A person, in contrast to an animal, is inherent in self-awareness. Self-awareness, in turn, is accompanied by the process of identifying oneself with the most relevant elements of the personality, feelings, desires.

• Some identify themselves mainly with their body (athlete, fashion model),
• others - with intelligence (scientist, "wise gudgeon"),
• still others - with feelings (a young man in love).

Such a one-sided identification of oneself with one of the parts of one's personality, first of all, makes it difficult to know "oneself for oneself." Moreover, a long-term identification of oneself with certain elements of the personality often leads to tragedy: "suffering athlete", "fading actress", "retired politician", etc.

These identifications can be persistent, but they can also be temporary.

Each of us at times says (or thinks): I am irritated; everything falls out of my hands; I can't do anything. We can surrender to these feelings or identify with them and fall into anger or depression for a long time, or we can separate these feelings from our conscious Self, realize them, try to see their cause and undesirable consequences.

Sometimes this is enough to withstand the onset of the "dark" forces.

The meaning of disidentification, assagioli teaches, is to separate the selected complexes and "thought-images" from our conscious self, decompose them into elements and try to control and manage them. “In other words,” writes Assagioli, “we should observe them coldly and dispassionately - as if they were simply external natural phenomena. It is necessary to establish a "psychological distance" between oneself and them and, keeping these complexes and thought-images, so to speak, at arm's length, calmly study their origin, their nature and their stupidity. "

This does not mean that the energy of these negative feelings and desires must necessarily be contained and suppressed. This energy should not be allowed to flow. You need to learn to control and manage it, directing it in a constructive direction, but this is possible only when delimiting and comprehending the core of your personality, your true self.

Work on subpersonalities
In the figurative expression of P. Ferrucci, subpersonalities are "psychological satellites that exist as many lives within the whole personality . "Each personality, on the one hand, is integral and unique, on the other hand, it is multi-layered and diverse ...

In each of us, many "types" coexist, often opposite to each other.

Even K. Jung, speaking about the structure of personality, highlighted the "shadow", opposing it to our conscious self.

The number of subpersonalities is infinite. They are changeable. The more of them, the more a person is inwardly richer, but also less purposeful. In general, you can be purposeful and with a great wealth of subpersonalities, but for this you need them to be in a certain agreement, in harmony.

We cannot talk about good or bad subpersonalities, since they all express only the versatility of our integral personality. But sometimes one (or more) of the subpersonalities dominates and begins to control our feelings and behavior.

First of all, it is important to recognize your main subpersonalities (usually there are two or three of them). This alone gives you the opportunity to form a clearer picture of your inner life. When you recognize the subpersonality, you gain the ability to sort of distance yourself from it and observe it from the outside.

This process in psychosynthesis is called disidentification.

The person is more inclined towards identification; disidentification is the reverse process. Comprehension of your true self is the identification or creation of a unifying center of I.

The essence of comprehending the true self is to expand the narrow field of personal consciousness mainly due to the higher unconscious, the unification of the lower self with the higher self. Everything, it would seem, is simple: you need to know your true essence, your "core", but, as Assagioli rightly emphasizes, "Behind these easy-to-pronounce words hides a complex enterprise."

In this context, P. Ferrucci's thought is interesting:

“In psychosynthesis, I am neither a passive spectator nor an actor. It is more of a show producer, responsible for quality, timeliness and responsive leadership. "

To familiarize yourself with the methods of psychosynthesis, you can do the following exercise.

"Who am I?"

This exercise contributes to the identification of our true self, which manifests itself outwardly not only positive, but also negative sides. You can do it at home.

Follow the order below for the exercise.

1. Pick a quiet place, grab your workbook, date it, and write the question, "Who am I?" Please write your answer to this question below. Try to keep your answer as open and honest as possible. You can ask this question several times and answer it several times.

2. Sit down, close your eyes, relax. Mentally ask yourself the question "Who am I?" and try to catch the answer to it in the form of an image. Examine the image that has arisen impartially, open your eyes and describe it.

3. After a minute, close your eyes again and ask yourself the same question again. Now let the answer be expressed in movement, dance or singing. Trust in the wisdom of your body. Perhaps you express a specific image in your movements.

4. Then share your experience with someone you trust, or describe your feelings in a notebook.

Depending on the area and purpose of application, psychosynthesis can be:

• by the method of self-knowledge and self-development of the individual;
• method of treatment (mainly borderline neuropsychiatric disorders and psychosomatic diseases);
• method of education.

In conclusion, I would like to analyze one interesting idea that Assagioli expressed almost 30 years ago, but which is still relevant today.

This idea is that individual psychosynthesis is a special case of universal interpersonal synthesis. A person does not live in a vacuum. Each individual is closely related to other individuals, therefore, a person should be considered as an element of a human group.

Small groups (family) are elements of large groups (social class, nation). Large groups can be combined into states, and states are elements of humanity as a whole.

Between people within a group and between groups (small and large), conflicts constantly arise, in their mechanism surprisingly similar to those that are inherent in each individual individual. Therefore, they can be resolved (interpersonal psychosynthesis) according to the same plan and by approximately the same methods by which individual psychosynthesis is carried out. From the analysis of conflicts, disharmony - to the synthesis of harmony around a true and independent "center".

Initially, R. Assagioli considered two levels of psychosynthesis .

He singled out the stage of the formation of a full-fledged personality (personal psychosynthesis) and then the stage of spiritual development (spiritual psychosynthesis). He attributed many phenomena and mental states to the field of spiritual psychosynthesis, which are encountered by those who plunge into the depths of their unconscious.

Currently, many followers of this trend tend to accept the three-level model proposed by T. Yeomans. He divides the process of psychosynthesis not into two, but into three stages:

• personal,
• transpersonal,
• spiritual.

The stage of personality formation corresponds to the stage identified by R. Assagioli. During this period, work takes place to integrate the personality around the "personal I". The task of this stage is to structure and / or coordinate all aspects of the personality, to enable it to cope with the surrounding reality in a new healthy, effective way.

This work should precede the transition to other stages. A premature opening to the energies of the transpersonal can lead, on the contrary, to a deepening of personality disorders, an overgrowth of the ego, and regressive behavior.

Transpersonal work has to do with the expansion of consciousness beyond ordinary boundaries into any other area (into the personal or collective unconscious). This work involves a detailed study of various levels of the psyche, corresponding, for example, to different areas of the oval diagram of R. Assagioli, or work with "memories of his birth." This may also include work with what K. Jung called "shadow" or Anima and Animus and their integration. It could also be "experiencing past lives", the manifestation of psychic abilities, parapsychic phenomena, etc.

Thus, the transpersonal is the area that literally makes it possible to know oneself deeper and more fully, see and feel, and sometimes hear those sides and energies that were still inaccessible to consciousness and include them in a fuller sense of one's own "personal self ".

The spiritual level, in comparison with the transpersonal, whose attention is directed to the content of the unconscious, turns directly to the energies of synthesis, to the will of the "Spiritual Self". Here the task is to bring personal will in line with the will of the "Spiritual Self", ie. actual dissolution in the Higher will.

Unlike the transpersonal level, experiences at the stage of spiritual psychosynthesis have no content. If the psyche has content, the personality has a dynamic structure, then the "Spiritual Self" is pure being that permeates them. This is the energy that fills the entire life system, this is a feeling of complete harmony, complete satisfaction with the existing state of affairs, a feeling of inner strength and confidence. At the same time, there is no longer a need to know any areas of consciousness, to comprehend them. Everything is clear and there is knowledge without comprehension.

Working with the "Spiritual Self" has its own levels and problems. Expansion of consciousness for obtaining new knowledge is not proposed here. If we assume that the “Spiritual I” is a condition for the existence of the psyche, and the psyche is a condition for the existence of a personality, then it is clear that the more transparent the “prisms” of the psyche and personality, the more light from the “Spiritual I” will reach the external world.

Thus, work on the personal and transpersonal levels is reduced to connecting and adjusting the internal systems of "prisms". The spiritual I "becomes the head of the work of psychosynthesis, it becomes both a condition and a result of work on other levels.

It is the "Spiritual Self" that contains the consciousness of God, the potential to comprehend Him. A person who manages to achieve complete "tuning" lives in the Absolute World, where the concepts of "inner World" and "outer World" are identical and the border between them disappears and, therefore, there are no contradictions. Living in the Absolute World, he acquires absolute thoughts and feelings, performs absolute actions. That is why every word, action and even thought of such a person contains a tremendous transforming power.