Event12-09-2026
Therapy In a Time Between Stories – In Person
Join author Allan Frater for a workshop on imagination with a difference. Allan will be hosting his popular course, Waking…
About Psychosynthesis
Psychosynthesis is a liberating discipline – a map to help navigate human experience and a toolbox for life.
“Self-consciousness involves our being a witness – a pure, objective, loving witness – to what is happening within and without.”
Roberto Assagioli, founder of psychosynthesis
Psychosynthesis applied to psychotherapy, psychology and self-development
Psychosynthesis is a school of psychology with ground breaking concepts and experiential techniques for people interested in personal and psychospiritual transformation.
Where suffering can be caused by a loss of contact with who we really are, psychosynthesis seeks to restore and renew this contact.
Learn more →“Psychosynthesis is a holistic approach to helping the individual deal with dilemmas, conflicts and patterns of behaviours which inhibit or prevent living life in meaningful and fulfilling ways.” Sue Fox, Trustee
The origins of psychosynthesis
Psychosynthesis has its roots in psychoanalysis. The Italian founder of psychosynthesis, Dr. Roberto Assagioli (1888-1974), initially trained as a doctor in neurology and psychiatry. He was a member of the Freud Society in Zurich. In 1909, he was among the first to bring psychoanalysis to Italy, alongside other pioneers of the psychoanalytic movement. However, he soon developed his ideas beyond Freud’s models to include connecting with higher manifestations of human nature, beyond pathology. A contemporary and student of Freud, Assagioli was more aligned with Jung’s approach to psychology.
Read more on the history of psychosynthesis
A transpersonal approach
Psychosynthesis is also part of a wider movement of psychospiritual development, exploration and inquiry. It is a fourth force or paradigm in the evolution of psychotherapy, not dismissing, but including all that has gone before:
- 1st Force: Psychoanalytic
- 2nd Force: Behavioural
- 3rd Force: Humanistic and Existential
- 4th Force: Transpersonal
As a transpersonal approach, psychosynthesis includes the human experience and moves beyond to integrate the spiritual aspect of existence.
Working in this psychospiritual way includes enhancing our awareness and expanding consciousness, meeting and embracing our challenges, pain and shadow aspects, as well as our light and joy. It means including the full range of the human experience whilst working in the present moment with what blocks or stops us, allowing an inner freedom to connect with the essence of our being-ness.
Psychosynthesis and wholeness
Psychosynthesis acknowledges our individual uniqueness and our connection to the whole.
“Psychosynthesis is interested in the whole building. We try to build an elevator which will allow a person access to every level of his personality. After all, a building with only a basement is very limited. We want to open up the terrace where you can sun-bathe or look at the stars.
Our concern is the synthesis of all areas of the personality. That means psychosynthesis is holistic, global and inclusive. It is not against psychoanalysis or even behaviour modification but it insists that the needs for meaning, for higher values, for a spiritual life, are as real as biological or social needs.”Roberto Assagioli
The different steps of psychosynthesis
Exploration of the unconscious 
The first step in psychosynthesis is the acquisition of self-knowledge (awareness) and the ability to move within our inner world with ease and confidence. For this to happen, we must first enter into a relationship with those feelings, thoughts and memories that society tends to alienate us from. We can then contact aspects of ourselves we’ve repressed because we found them too painful to experience, or because they conflict with the conscious image we have of ourselves, or with the dominant cultural norms. Instead of being consistent and unchanging in this work we find ourselves to be a mix of contrasting, changing elements, which in psychosynthesis are termed sub-personalities.
In the words of Assagioli:
“We are not unified. We often have the illusion of being so, because we do not have many bodies or many limbs, and because one hand does not fight with the other, but in our inner world this is actually the case – various personalities and subpersonalities struggle continuously with each other. Our impulses, desires, principles and aspirations are in continual tumult.”
Our essential task is to bring clarity into this confusion.
The ‘I’
Through acquiring self-knowledge we discover that there are many aspects, roles and attitudes we identify ourselves with, to the point of forgetting or repressing the rest of our personality. When we identify with one part of ourselves, we’re ruled by it. For example, we’ve all seen someone dominated by anxiety or depression, prejudice or ambition, and we’ve all felt ourselves at times to be prisoners of psychological patterns that appear to be beyond our control.
Such identification can be reversed through disidentification: a process through which we separate or step back from all the various and competing aspects of our personality, allowing ourselves to discover our true ‘I’ or centre. This gives us an experience of inner freedom and enables us uncover more of who we really are.
The Will
Self-knowledge, particularly when it leads to an awareness of our true centre, is a step forward. However, even after we’ve exposed and understood them, old complexes often persist due to years of unconscious repetition. Psychosynthesis recognises that even deep and thorough self-knowledge may not be sufficient to cause lasting change; it must be accompanied by the discovery and use of the will.
Psychosynthesis sees the will as being basic to mental health. At times we may experience our will instantaneously as an intrinsic velocity, for example when we perform an act of courage or make an irrevocable decision. At other times we may feel it as a flow of energy, such as when we concentrate our attention on one subject or when we persevere with a project we’re determined to complete, despite its difficulties. In these moments we discover within ourselves the capacity to choose and direct and this is the will.
The Superconscious
In rare moments we may have an intuitive vision of the nature of the universe, an intense experience of a sense of unity with all beings, a profound understanding of the meaning of life, or an outpouring of creativity – moments in which we transcend the limits of individuality and glimpse a universal reality. These and other phenomena belong to what psychosynthesis calls the ‘superconscious’. This level of the unconscious generates all that’s highest and most meaningful for a human being.
While various schools of contemporary psychology often ignore the superconscious, in psychosynthesis, particular attention is given to studying these aspects of our experience, observing their effect on the rest of our personality and using techniques to facilitate these transpersonal qualities, values or energies and their integration into everyday life.
Interpersonal Relationships
The desire to act freely and in harmony with our own nature, rather than being at the mercy of external forces, exists within us all. This manifests in the desire to become an individual and affirm oneself in the world. Alongside this need is a complementary desire to feel part of a larger whole and to transcend the limitations of individuality, giving rise to the need for friendship, tenderness, and love.
Both these needs must be recognised and met for true psychological health to occur. The need for autonomy is satisfied as the personality frees itself from past conditioning and expresses itself fully. However, this alone is not enough; we must also learn to satisfy our need for contact with others and belonging. In this regard, focusing on the individual alone, though necessary, is not always sufficient by itself. We also need to develop other skills, such as the ability to communicate clearly and directly, experience empathy, and have an accurate perception of others; to have a creative approach to interpersonal conflicts and build the capacity to attain sincere relationships that are free from ulterior motives, expectations and fears. In this field too, psychosynthesis offers effective tools for growth.
Synthesis
There’s an inherent tendency within organic matter to fluctuate and organise itself in a coherent manner. This can also be seen to operate within the individual; an innate propensity of the psyche to order itself and become a harmonious whole. When the various elements of our being are in conflict, our energy becomes blocked and this causes pain. However, when a synthesis of two or more parts of our personality occurs, energy is freed and we experience a sense of well-being. This is the essence of psychosynthesis: the harmonious integration of all our component parts around a unifying centre.
The tendency towards synthesis is inherent within us. Rather than being an artificial imposition of techniques, psychosynthesis unblocks and stimulates a process that’s more closely allied to us than any other: becoming who we are.
There is a natural tendency for matter to be in a constant and creative interplay, as part of a journey of life, settling, reorganising, movement and flow, which is full of paradox and complexity.
A Vision of Unity
Psychology today presents a curious panorama, which distinguishes it greatly from other, older sciences. On the one hand, subdivision into contrasting schools and on the other, especially in the field of therapeutic practice, a seemingly disorganised eclecticism in which theories and techniques are brought together indiscriminately, with no vision of wholeness. This is natural, as science historian Thomas Kuhn has demonstrated: every science in its initial phases – and psychology is still very young – presents strong internal differentiations. In time, the situation evolves, with the contrasting moving towards resolution.
In this context, psychosynthesis presents itself not as another school, but as a movement towards unification. It has its own structures, methods, and working hypotheses; but in addition it serves as a point of reference for the co-ordination of many other ideas, attitudes and techniques which can contribute, on an individual or social level, to the universal actualisation of human potential.
‘There is no certainty, there is only adventure.’ Roberto Assagioli
testimonials
“Authentic and compassionate”
My experience and reflections after taking the Essentials of Psychosynthesis training can be expressed by these words: authentic and compassionate, professional and humane, longer-term life changing impacts, reminding truths forgotten and introducing new perspectives, high quality delivery, comfortable and stimulating at the same time, embracing diversity, the art of aware and constructive living, feeling of connection. I warmly recommend it to anyone.
Essentials Course Attendee
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“Humbling experience”
Being able to do this course in person was a real highlight for me. The courage, honesty and bravery everyone showed in sharing their experiences & stories was humbling.
Essentials Course Attendee
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“Professional, supportive and understanding”
The low cost clinic has changed everything for me. The service that I have received from my first phone call to my weekly sessions has been professional, supportive and understanding but above all approachable. It was a great move to look to the Trust, and it and my therapist have been amazing.
Counselling service client
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“Understanding and inclusive”
They have been very inclusive and understanding of me as a black woman studying counselling skills. It allows me to understand my defences and the difficulties presenting themselves in my life..
Counselling service client
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“Thank you so much”
The assessment and allocation of a therapist were done quickly, sensitively, and I was always listened to. My therapist is a perfect fit for my needs, supports me, and I look forward to my sessions. I feel comforted and understood by my therapist.
Counselling service client
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“Very flexible”
The counselling service contacted me very quickly and were flexible. My counsellor adapts to my needs.
Counselling service client
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“Amazing”
My counsellor in training is amazing. She makes you feel comfortable, heard, and like everything is your choice and no one else’s.
Counselling service client
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“I use this service on an ongoing basis”
It is very good - I feel empowered knowing more about myself and reflecting on some of my behaviours. Thank you!
Counselling service client
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“An incredible adventure”
The Foundations Year has been an incredible adventure. The balance of experiential and academic work at the Trust makes this course truly unique and invaluable to personal development. It challenged me and provided me with insight and information I previously felt was out of reach, all in an environment where the experienced trainers support with ease and compassion. The course teaches and supports you as an individual as well as a potential future practitioner.
Foundations participant
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“Thank you”
Thank you for this workshop which for me brought affirmation and confirmation of my work and my journey.
CPD participant
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