Psychosynthesis: A Manual of Principles and Techniques (A Collection of Basic Writings) (An Esalen Book)

Roberto Assagioli was born in Venice 1888. He was educated as a medical doctor and psychiatrist, coming under the influence of the Freudian school. In 1910 he began to formulate the concept of psychosynthesis, arguing not that psychoanalysis was an incorrect approach, but that it was incomplete. Since those early days, he has spent his professional life elaborating a generous and comprehensive psychology of man that includes the soul as well the instinctual drives.

More than a theory, it is also a practical, working method that includes many approaches to personal growth currently entering the mainstreams of psychology and education...meditation, encounter groups, inner-imagery, and several dozen more. These methods are unified around the notion of a self at the core of each individual that can direct the harmonious development of all aspects of the personality. Beyond that personal harmony lies access to higher realism...creativity, transpersonal experience, and spiritual development.