{"id":5251,"date":"2017-06-02T22:09:06","date_gmt":"2017-06-02T21:09:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/?p=5251\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T14:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:57:45","slug":"conversation-with-roberto-assagioli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethsorensen.dk\/en\/conversation-with-roberto-assagioli\/","title":{"rendered":"Conversation with Roberto Assagioli"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experiential Sessions on Meditation, the Self, and Psychosynthesis<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\r\n
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Experiential sessions with <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Roberto Assagioli<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span><\/strong> Documented by Diane Freund <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
Florence, March\u2013April 1973 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
Originally published in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Psychosynthesis Digest<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em> , Spring 1983 <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
Assagioli Archives \u2013 Florence<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Editorial note<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/span><\/strong> This text documents a series of private working sessions between Roberto Assagioli and Diane Freund during her study period in Florence in 1973. The material is excerpted from a larger autobiographical and reflective manuscript written by Freund and is based on tape recordings and written exchanges from the sessions. Roberto Assagioli’s words were addressed to Freund’s personal psychological and spiritual process and were not intended as generalized instruction. The title, abstract, and cross-sections in this online edition have been added by the editor, Kenneth S\u00f8rensen, to support readability, navigation, and archival consistency. The original wording has not been altered.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Abstract<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\r\n

This experiential document presents excerpts from private sessions between Roberto Assagioli and psychotherapist Diane Freund, offering a rare inside view of Assagioli’s therapeutic and pedagogical method in practice. The text explores meditation, dis-identification, the Transpersonal Self, invocation, resistance of the personality, the technique of substitution, and the cultivation of inner calm through identification with broader contexts of meaning. Through dialogue, drawing, visualization, and meditation, Assagioli guides Freund toward spiritual psychosynthesis grounded in psychological realism, proportion, wisdom, and freedom. The material provides unique insight into how Assagioli worked individually with advanced students and clinicians in the final years of his life.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Introduction<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/p>\r\n

In March 1973, I went to Italy to study with Roberto Assagioli.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

This article is excerpted from the book I have written about that journey. The book originally evolved from wanting to share my experiences with some friends and interested others, using the transcriptions I had made from the tapes of my sessions with RA It reads as though he and I were talking to each other but actually, since Roberto was almost completely deaf, I wrote all my comments and questions to him and except for an occasional Grazi or Bene from me, only his voice is heard recorded. In preparing the transcriptions, therefore, to be read by others, I had to insert my written words to make sense of his answers. Then, expanding, I included who I was and how I was using my time in Florence in between our sessions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here, then, are excerpts from the first and seventh sessions. I have preserved his words as he spoke them, making only small changes for clarity. I believe it is important to note that the following are my very personal impressions, not meant to be an objective description at all. Roberto’s words, reproduced here, were meant to address my issues and not as messages for the general public. Recognizing this, I hope these selections will give a flavor of him and of the way he worked – at least the way he worked with me.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

It had been the previous November when I’d finished a training program at the Psychosynthesis Institute in California and thought of going to Italy to meet Dr. Assagioli. I had been warned that he was old, about 85, and ill, saw few people, and was busy with important writing of his own. I was further told that it would be months, anyway, before I even got a reply rejecting me, the Italian mails being what they were and Roberto himself being not too prompt and so very busy. It felt daring to write to him but I was also feeling the strength of my own professional background and the quality of the work I was doing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n

I put everything in my letter that I thought he would care about, the training I’d had, the workshops I’d given, the work I was doing with clients using psychosynthesis. I told him how that work felt and about my experiences with psychosynthesis for my own self-exploration and growth. The surprising result was a prompt reply telling me when he would have time to see me. He sounded so accessible and welcoming that I immediately made plans to go.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n