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Psychosynthesis (Assagioli)

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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion

Psychosynthesis: An Integration of Personality and Spirit

Psychosynthesis, for the greater part, is a synthesis or integration of Psychology (depth psychotherapy) and religion (spiritual process and growth). Psychosynthesis uses a combination of a multiplicity of techniques and modalities, e.g., the empty-chair technique, empathy, abreaction and catharsis, nonjudgmental acceptance and holding environment, creativity, play and drama, dream analysis, meditation and guided imagery, family reconstitution, primal wound healing, subpersonality analysis and dialogue, and self-unfoldment. It draws from many schools and traditions: Depth Psychology, Analytical Psychology, Gestalt, Family Systems, Insight Meditation, and Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology, to name a few.

Psychosynthesis originated from the work of Roberto Assagioli, M.D. He was a contemporary of Jung and Freud and belonged to the Zurich Freud Society. However, he was not totally satisfied with the narrow approach of...

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Bibliography

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Elmira Psychiatric Center, Elmira, NY, USA

    Michael Keller

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  1. Michael Keller
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Correspondence to Michael Keller .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    David A. Leeming

  2. Blanton-Peale Institute, New York, NY, USA

    David A. Leeming

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Keller, M. (2020). Psychosynthesis (Assagioli). In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9015

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