{"id":5195,"date":"2017-06-02T20:24:04","date_gmt":"2017-06-02T19:24:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/?p=5195\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T18:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T17:11:56","slug":"the-developmental-theory-of-psychosynthesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/en\/the-developmental-theory-of-psychosynthesis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Developmental theory of Psychosynthesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maslow has presented an illuminating progression of five stages of evolutionary development<\/span><\/span> .” (Assagioli)<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n
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This article is chapter 3, from my book: The Soul of Psychosynthesis \u2013 the seven core concepts. Available at Amazon etc.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By Kenneth Sorensen<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the last chapter, I quoted Assagioli’s remark that the Egg Diagram, “leaves out its dynamic aspect, which is the most important and essential one”.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This dynamic aspect is The Developmental Theory of Psychosynthesis. In ‘Psychosynthesis,’ Assagioli gives a brief outline of this, and he later expands on the idea in ‘The Act of Will’. The theory illustrates the self’s journey from preconscious, to self-conscious, to superconscious awareness. Here I will present a general outline of this process.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Assagioli was inspired by the Italian poet and writer Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). He considered Dante an enlightened being, and he compares the process of Psychosynthesis to Dante’s Divine Comedy, which he describes as “a wonderful picture of a complete Psychosynthesis.” (1975, p. 211) Dante’s poem is about the soul’s journey from hell, through purgatory and into paradise. As Assagioli writes:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“The first part, the Pilgrimage through Hell- indicates the analytical exploration of the Lower Unconscious. The second part \u2013 the Ascent of the Mountain of Purgatory- indicates the process of moral purification and gradual rising of the level of consciousness through the use of active techniques. The third part- the visit to Paradise or Heaven- depicts in an unsurpassed way the various stages of superconscious realizations, up to the final version of the Universal Spirit, of God Himself, in which Love and Will are fused.\u201d (1975, p. 211)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In this quote, Assagioli describes a model of development moving through several <\/span><\/span>stages<\/span><\/span><\/em> . Starting at the bottom of the Egg Diagram, it passes through several levels and stages to <\/span><\/span>Self-realization<\/span><\/span><\/em> . In my Master Dissertation <\/span><\/span>Integral Psychosynthesis<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/a> (S\u00f8rensen, 2008), I provide many sources supporting this view. Here I will examine the many nuances that accompany this model.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As Assagioli developed his model, he integrated ideas from many of his colleagues. An important influence was the American psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow wrote a number of influential books in the 50s and 60s and was instrumental in the development of Humanistic and Transpersonal psychology. He is especially known for his: “Hierarchy of Needs.” Assagioli frequently refers to Maslow in his work and he encouraged his students to study his books. (Undate 2)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In the ‘The Act of Will’, Assagioli brings Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs into the Egg Diagram. (1974, ch. 8-10) The similarities between Assagioli’s and Maslow’s ideas are evident and Assagioli quotes Maslow 25 times throughout the book. The integration of Maslow’s developmental theory with Assagioli’s \u201cstatic\u201d model is obviously an important point, because it relates his own model with a very clear and dynamic stage model. The evolving self’s journey goes through <\/span><\/span>natural unfolding <\/span><\/span><\/em> stages<\/span><\/span><\/em> from the lower unconscious, through the middle unconscious and to the superconscious and beyond.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n