Maslows behovspyramide anvendt i psykosyntese terapi

The article describes a therapeutic case in which Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the psychosynthesis concept of subpersonalities strengthen the client’s ability to understand his reaction patterns.

By Kenneth Sorensen

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Introduction

Working with subpersonalities is a central theme in psychosynthesis therapy and often contributes to giving the client some good skills to handle their diverse and often opposing sides and coordinate them into a well-integrated personality. However, working with subpersonalities requires that there is parallel work on creating an ability to center , that the client is supported in finding their inner center of pure self-awareness and will. It is from this inner center that the subpersonalities can be identified, integrated, transformed and synthesized. Gaining a clear experiential recognition of oneself – as a center of pure self-awareness, (called the observer , the witness  and the conscious self) is often associated with an experience of great freedom. We experience that the diverse forces in the personality are much easier to control when one has found a neutral observing center to work from. This center is the subject and the inner being in every human being.

One of the central postulates of psychosynthesis is that our true identity is not the body, the emotions, the thoughts or any of the many roles we play in everyday life. The central identity, on the other hand, is the self – called the conscious self when it comes to everyday consciousness and the higher Self when we contact the higher universal consciousness. This self is defined as a center of pure self-awareness and will. (Read the article: Psychosynthesis – the path to your higher self!).

When the conscious self is anchored in the center and does not identify with the emotions and roles (e.g. mother, father, nice girl, strong man, etc.), an ability to act through the psychological functions and the specific sub-personalities or roles arises and this gives greater inner freedom from inhibiting character traits and the ability to express one’s will. Seen from that perspective, it becomes clear why psychosynthesis has a great focus on strengthening the conscious self through Roberto Assagioli’s self-identification exercise, etc.

The work with self-identification and disidentification is one of the central features of psychosynthesis, and something that is emphasized a lot in therapeutic practice. Based on this brief introduction, let me present the main focus of the article.

Can subpersonalities be placed in Maslow’s pyramid?

In the fall of 2004, in my client work, I came across a primary subpersonality that the client called “The Refugee”. Its basic need was to survive financially and create material security for the client and his family. In this connection, I considered whether the subpersonalities could be placed in Maslow’s pyramid of needs, something I had seen suggested by Roberto Assagioli. The question places the subpersonalities in an evolutionary or developmental psychology perspective, as Maslow’s pyramid speaks of “lower” and “higher needs”, which immediately corresponds well to Assagioli’s oval diagram, with the lower and higher unconscious. In other words, a question is raised whether the core motivation – the need – in the subpersonality can be verified as a need for security, a need for love, a need for self-esteem, etc., respectively. cf. Maslow’s pyramid of needs. If the question can be answered in the affirmative, it can probably provide a good tool for determining a sub-personality’s primary area of ​​activity within the personality and thus make the sub-personality’s identification and integration phase easier.

The clinical work with subpersonalities can often take on a chaotic character when the many subpersonalities emerge with diverse and often opposing needs that can trigger an inner struggle characterized by ambivalence. A theoretical framework that places these subpersonalities in a value system could perhaps contribute to shedding greater clarity on the interrelationships of the subpersonalities.

When the central organizing force in man – the self with its will – has to make a decision that concerns, for example, a choice between different inner urges, it is very important to know which needs are to be served. Is it the love or self-esteem needs that need to be satisfied now? Answering this question has not only a theoretical relevance, because it is an important question to clarify when we are to learn to use our will consciously and purposefully, because then our choices must be well thought out. Often our actions are expressions of motives that are difficult to understand and that can create difficulties for us later.

But is it possible to place the psychosynthesis concept of subpersonality within Maslow’s pyramid of needs?

This article will not attempt to provide a detailed description of the concept of subpersonality or of Maslow’s theory of needs and motivation. It will only briefly outline the two concepts and attempt to relate them to each other, based on, among other things, the literature of Roberto Assagioli and Abraham Maslow. Next, I will put the concepts into perspective for my clinical practice and through that attempt to make it plausible whether it is possible in practice to relate subpersonalities to Maslow’s pyramid of needs and what the therapeutic consequences will be.

Definition of the concept of subpersonality

One of the great contributions of psychosynthesis to psychology is the concept of subpersonalities, and although Roberto Assagioli was not necessarily the first to discover that a person’s personality is often composed of a wide range of different and independent sub-elements[1], his efforts have greatly contributed to bringing the idea to light.

In Roberto Assagioli’s book Psychosynthesis, he defines subpersonalities as follows:

“The construction of the split personalities is very revealing and sometimes surprising and confusing and sometimes perhaps frightening. One discovers how different and often completely opposite the character traits are displayed in the different roles. These differences in the traits built around a role justify, in our opinion, the use of the word “split personalities.” Ordinary people switch from one personality to another without a clear knowledge of it, and only a thin thread of memory connects them, but for all practical purposes they are independent beings – they act independently, and they display different character traits.”[2]

Since the subpersonalities can only be understood in the context of the self – which is the central core and subject in the human being, around which the subpersonalities should be integrated, it is also significantly short to define this self. As previously mentioned, it can also be called the conscious self or the personal self in the world of personality and the higher Self when it expresses itself in the transpersonal world. When we talk generally about the self, we simply call it the self because there are not two selves, but only one core.

Assagioli defines the self as a “ center of pure self-awareness and will .”[3] In other words, we are not the roles we often identify with, but rather the witness , the observer, the potential inner captain who can learn to consciously control the personality’s multiple traits and roles. Often, however, in the real world, we are completely identified with a role like mother, father, or a job function. The problem, according to Assagioli, is that:

“The identification with one part of the personality excludes or greatly diminishes the ability to self-identify with all the other parts of the personality.”[4]

If this is true and many experience it to be so, then we must dis-identify from false self-conceptions and seize the opportunity to know our true identity. According to psychosynthesis, it is the self that expresses itself through many different traits and sub-personalities as a means of becoming who we potentially are and expressing it in the world through service. This is what is meant by unity in diversity – the observer is always the same, but expresses itself in diverse ways. This is the distinction between the self and the non-self.

The process of self-identification is promoted through disidentification from roles and identification with the self. Assagioli’s classic axiom in this regard is: “We are dominated by everything with which our self identifies. We can dominate and master everything with which we disidentify.” [5]

The work of disidentifying from the roles or sub-personalities and identifying with the self is fundamental to psychosynthesis. Through this process we have the opportunity to create a synthesis of the often very different and antagonistic sub-personalities, because identification with the self – the inner observer – gives us a point of view around which we can integrate the parts. James Vargiu quotes Henry A. Murray in a classic article on sub-personalities: “A personality is a congress full of speakers and pressure groups, of children, demagogues, Machiavellians, Caesars and Christs.” [6] This image gives a good impression of the task that every human being faces.

Introduction to Maslow’s motivation theory

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow explains his theory of needs and motivation in his groundbreaking 1954 book Motivation and Personality . There are so many aspects to this theory that there is not enough space to go into them here. Therefore, I will only outline Maslow’s pyramid of needs below. (click for a larger version of Maslow’s pyramid of needs )

Note that the outlined model also includes the self-actualization needs described by Maslow in his book The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. These cover the mystical experiences of unity and altruistic needs that lead humans to transcend their ego.

Maslow’s main thesis is that people everywhere are motivated by the same universal needs, even though they use diverse and different strategies to satisfy these needs. He puts it this way: “Apparently the goals themselves are far more universal than the paths taken to achieve those goals, for these paths are determined locally in the culture in question. People are far more similar than one might first think”[7]

He then assumes that needs can be arranged in a pyramid of needs, where the most basic survival and safety needs must first be satisfied before the higher needs, such as love and self-esteem, emerge. As he says: “We would never have the desire to compose music or create mathematical systems, decorate our homes or pay attention to our clothing if our stomachs were empty most of the time or we were constantly dying of thirst or were threatened by imminent disaster or if everyone and everyone hated us.” [8]

Maslow assumes that human needs are never fully satisfied. As soon as a need is satisfied, a new and higher need will emerge, which is the principle that leads to human development and realization of what they have the potential to become.

Maslow has an important hypothesis in relation to developmental psychology. He assumes that people who have experienced having their needs met have an easier time tolerating deprivation later on, and conversely, people who have experienced deprivation in this area early on will have a harder time tolerating frustration in this area throughout their lives.[9] In other words, a developmental psychological disorder can arise that is linked to the satisfaction of needs, and neurotic traits can be built around this disorder.[10] This can be, for example, a fear of poverty and hunger despite great wealth. This is sometimes exemplified in the life of a miser.

Maslow defines the neurotic person as follows:

“The neurotic person can be very usefully described as an adult who maintains his childhood attitudes towards the world. That is, a neurotic adult actually acts as if he is afraid of a spanking, his mother’s disapproval, being abandoned by his parents, or having his food taken away.” [11]

He classifies the different needs in such a way that the first ones are the most basic and form the base of the pyramid (see diagram in Appendix 1):

1. Physiological needs, 2. Safety needs, 3. Love and belongingness needs, 4. Self-esteem needs, 5. Self-actualization needs. 6. Self-realization needs .

Definition of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

1. Physiological needs.

Humans need water and food above all else to survive. Therefore, physiological needs are the strongest of all needs. When a person is hungry, the entire field of consciousness is filled with the need to satisfy their hunger and all other needs fade into the background and are practically non-existent.

The whole picture of the future also seems to change in relation to the needs that are most pressing. The hungry man thinks only of eating – of getting food. He believes that if only he is guaranteed to be able to satisfy his hunger, he will be happy for the rest of his days. Life is about eating – freedom, love and idealism do not exist. A man living in this state practically lives on bread alone.

But what happens when there is suddenly enough bread? Instantly another and higher need arises and it will now dominate the person. When this need is fulfilled, a new and higher one will arise, and so on. This is what is meant by the fact that the basic needs are organized in a hierarchy of relative strength.

2. Security needs.

When the body’s needs have been met to a reasonable degree, the higher-level safety need emerges. It is about the need for security, stability, protection, freedom from fear, nervousness and chaos. Need for structure, order, law, boundaries, etc. A large part of children’s development is precisely about giving them insight into the world, so that their fear of threatening phenomena is reduced – the fear of the unknown – thunder, etc. Children therefore need order, structure and routines around them – calm, cleanliness and regularity. In other words, they need a predictable and lawful world. The injustice and unaccountability of parents creates insecure children because the world becomes unaccountable.

Therefore, chaotic, aggressive, and disturbed conditions at home are an obstacle to achieving safety.

Today, the need for security in the civilized part of the world is most often expressed as the need for a steady job, savings, insurance schemes – the need for known rather than unknown things around us. Religion, science, philosophy can be an important security function for some, explaining the world and providing security in relation to death. But there are of course also many other needs linked to religion.

The neurosis where the frustrated need for security is most clearly expressed is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), where a pathological need for security forces the person to ritualize their everyday life in a highly inhibiting and controlling behavior.

3. Love and attachment needs.

When safety needs are met to a reasonable degree, the needs for love, tenderness, and attachment emerge.

Now the person becomes painfully aware of his lack of friends, lovers, spouse, children. He will long for a loving and caring family. According to Maslow, children and adults can be harmed by living outside their family, group or in exile. However, he believes that the need to belong to a community is underestimated as a result of urbanization and individualization. The love needs involve both giving and receiving love. When these needs are met to a certain extent, the need to be something in itself appears.

4. Self-esteem needs.

Most people have a need for stable, well-founded self-esteem and self-worth, and to receive appreciation and esteem from others. These needs can be divided into two:

The need for strength, achievement, competence, adequacy, mastery and self-confidence in relation to the world and for independence and freedom.

Next, we have the needs to have a good reputation, prestige, status, fame, recognition, attention, which is an expression of respect or appreciation from others.

Satisfaction of self-esteem needs leads to self-confidence, self-worth, strength, competence, and sufficiency, of being useful and necessary to the world. Failure to satisfy this need leads to feelings of inferiority, weakness, and helplessness.

Maslow points out that there are great dangers in basing one’s self-esteem on the opinions of others rather than on actual capacity. The healthiest self-esteem is based on earned respect from others rather than external fame and idolization.

5. Self-actualization needs .

There is not space within the framework of this assignment to define all the characteristics that Maslow attributes to the self-actualizing people he researched. Therefore, I will briefly quote his definition of this need.

“Even when all other needs are satisfied, we can often (if not always) expect that a new discontent and restlessness will soon develop unless the individual does what he is individually suited to. A musician must play music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to find ultimate peace with himself. What a man can become, he must be. He must be true to his own nature. This need might be called self-actualization.” [12]

The need for self-actualization relates to the human need for self-perfection , namely to become what one has the potential to become, seen from a personal perspective. In this regard, Maslow distinguishes between deficiency needs and growth needs, where the former covers the first four need categories, which can be satisfied through the right strategy. However, the need for self-actualization covers a growth need that can never be satisfied, it will constantly lead the human being towards new development opportunities and the realization of the inherent potential in the human being. [13]

6. Self-actualization needs.

In his later books Toward a Psychology of Being and The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, Maslow expands his pyramid of needs by including the self-actualization needs or the transcendent values ​​and needs. Self-actualization is primarily the full development of all personal resources and potentials. A person can therefore easily be quite self-absorbed even if he is self-actualized.
By including the transcendent values, i.e. the values ​​that make a person reach beyond himself and unite with something greater, a person enters the world of spiritual energies. This is where the great mystics and altruistically motivated people get their motivation.

In The Psychology of the Will, Assagioli describes the relationship between deficiency needs, self-actualization, and self-realization in the following way:

“Maslow has presented an enlightening proposal for a progressive evolutionary development in five stages. The types belonging to the first two stages fall under Theory X. They are primarily determined by deficiency needs. The third and fourth types fall under Theory Y. They are primarily governed by the drives toward self-actualization. The fifth type comes under what he calls Theory Z. This is the person who aligns his life with transcendent values.”

Self-realization can also be considered from the perspective of the will. In the article Training of the Will, Roberto Assagioli says:
“When the individual will cooperates harmoniously with the Will that governs the Universe, that Will cooperates with that man and places Its own unlimited powers at his disposal. In the Laws that govern the Cosmos, man discovers the laws that should govern his own actions.
In this way, the will, becoming good, becomes at the same time strong and wise, and this union, this synthesis of the three, will create the complete will – the Perfect Will.”

Can sub-personalities be placed in the pyramid of needs?

In this section I want to discuss whether it is possible from a theoretical perspective to place subpersonalities in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The idea is not new in Roberto Assagioli’s books, where Maslow is often quoted.

The self-realization process of psychosynthesis and the pyramid of needs
Overall, according to my research, there is nothing in psychosynthesis that directly contradicts Maslow’s pyramid of needs. Maslow as well as Assagioli use a developmental psychology stage model to describe the personal development process from childhood to maturity, and if we read Ken Wilber’s writings, we find overwhelming scientific documentation for this idea. Roberto Assagioli defines the self-realization process as a journey through personal and spiritual psychosynthesis.[14] It is of course much more complicated than that, and in The Psychology of the Will he takes Maslow’s discoveries as his starting point:

The oval diagram and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

“Maslow has presented an enlightening proposal for a progressive evolutionary development in five stages. The human types belonging to the first two stages fall under Theory X. They are primarily governed by deficiency needs. The third and fourth types fall under Theory Y. They are primarily governed by the drive toward self-actualization. The fifth type comes under what he calls Theory Z. This is the person who aligns his life with transcendent values.”[17]

Maslow describes the emergence of needs as a result of “intrinsic biological and instinctual impulses that are given … this inner core manifests itself through natural inclinations that drive it forward”.[15], the core has “its own dynamic force, always pushing towards an open and uninhibited development … that force is a major aspect of the “will to health”, the urge to grow, the push towards self-actualization, the search for one’s identity. This is what in principle makes psychotherapy, education and self-development possible.” [16].

Here Maslow emphasizes the will and comes very close to Assagioli’s definition of the self, although there are also some crucial differences. Within psychosynthesis we will see the emergence of needs as a result of the evolutionary development of the self and its will to be, because basically – there are no children, but only “souls” at different stages of development.

In the early developmental stages of childhood, the self expresses its will to be through the lower needs and later through the higher “being” needs.

Assagioli’s references to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs occur several times[18], so I will not further substantiate this point in what follows. Instead, I would like to examine how subpersonalities arise and whether they can be linked to the hierarchy of needs.

The emergence of sub-personalities

In the section on subpersonalities above, they were defined as a series of character traits organized around a role that acts and appears independently. But how did they come about? Gretchen Sliker addresses the question in her book Multiple Mind and says, among other things:

“Subpersonalities are a natural and normal product of development. As the child grows, the schemas [19] become more complex. The biological functions are mastered and life is maintained more and more automatically, freeing the child to participate freely in the group in which she is cared for. As the pressure for survival becomes social, the child is confronted with new challenges in the various cultural groups in order to secure her position in the group. The template of the subpersonality lies first in biology and then in the cultural pattern. … The subpersonality is a specially designed schema, distinguishable from other schemas by its social orientation and function. It develops its particular form in connection with the unique personal history and experiences of the child. The subpersonality is developed as a psychic tool for negotiating and mastering the child’s cultural world and the expectations of this world. The core of every subpersonality is a necessary life function (my emphasis) … Contained within the layers of the subpersonality is a developing self-image, a picture of the world, and the feelings associated with these particular images.”[20]

According to Sliker, subpersonalities develop continuously throughout the child’s development, as a result of his survival needs, both biologically and socially. This corresponds very well to Maslow’s description of the three lowest needs that the child must first have satisfied. Seen from that perspective, I would allow myself to conclude that subpersonalities arise as a result of the self’s (initially instinctive) need-satisfaction strategy and the environment’s response to that strategy.

Sliker describes in the above that  the template of the subpersonality lies first in biology and then in the cultural pattern. Here, however, it is important to emphasize the subject, the inner core, the self, as the primary cause for the emergence of these subpersonalities. This retention of the inner core is one of the most important insights of psychosynthesis, and it is thus also my hypothesis that it is always the self (at a given developmental psychological stage) that evokes all instincts, drives, needs, etc.

Sliker also states in the above that the core of every subpersonality is a “life function”, but could one not just as rightly call the core of the subpersonality a need that arises as a result of the self’s will to manifest itself ? Couldn’t the need be a life function? A subpersonality could therefore also be defined as the psychic structure that arises as a result of the unconscious/conscious negotiation between the self’s need to manifest itself and the cultural circumstances to which the self must adapt in order to survive in a cultural context.

Sliker places a lot of emphasis on survival needs – too much in my opinion, as it is not my impression that all subpersonalities are about survival.

Roberto Assagioli says that subpersonalities arise from “the tragic contrast between thought and feeling, between reason and faith, between conviction and worship.”[21] In other words, subpersonalities arise as a result of life’s contradictions. Or, as Assagioli describes it elsewhere, in the conflict between lower and higher needs , subpersonalities arise to take care of the different needs. In a section dealing with subpersonalities, he says the following:

“A realistic observation of the currents of psychological life in man clearly shows the existence of a number of different and conflicting tendencies which can at times form the nucleus of semi-independent partial personalities. … Another basic conflict is that which concerns, on the one hand, inertia, sluggishness – the tendency to preserve and a striving for security (which expresses itself as conformity), and, on the other hand, tendencies towards growth, assertiveness and adventure. A further source of conflict is the awakening of new drives or needs which are in conflict with existing ones; this takes place especially in two main areas: (a) the tumultuous awakening of new tendencies and inclinations during the growth of youth, (b) the awakening of religious aspirations and new spiritual interests, which one experiences especially as a middle-aged person.” [22]

In this quote, he describes the “awakening of new drives or needs” as the cause of the conflict-creating tendencies that can create “the core of semi-independent sub-personalities”. One could therefore well imagine that the sub-personalities that are created with the purpose of ensuring stability and security (security needs) in life would be in conflict with the emerging needs for new challenges in the career that involve risks but also the possibility of greater appreciation and responsibility (self-esteem needs). It is my hypothesis that if the individual succeeds in satisfying the emergence of a higher need, a new sub-personality will arise around this higher need, which may be in conflict with the lower needs, but not necessarily. According to Assagioli, it is not the case that all the new needs automatically draw on the sub-personalities that have been developed in the previous development, because occasionally completely new material arises in consciousness:

“It is therefore necessary to distinguish this superconscious, but previously unconscious material, from the kind of material which may come from the lower planes of the unconscious, which has been thoroughly studied by Freud and his followers. It seems that in some of the cases of intrusion from superconscious planes, material appears which is, so to speak, ready-made and which has very little connection with previous experiences. It is not something which appears in the usual way from the lower unconscious as parts of a now liberated, but previously repressed experiential material. It is something new and, as mentioned earlier, something which has little connection with previous personal experiences of the individual.” [23]

According to Assagioli, these new impressions can form the basis for new motivations and thus needs:

“Let us now examine another way of making decisions, especially those determined by motives that emanate from or come through the higher unconscious (superconscious) in the form of illuminations, inspirations, and promptings to action of an inner and outer nature. In general, these motives can be considered transpersonal in their character: artistic creativity, altruistic and humanitarian impulses, the search for truth, etc. Their origin often cannot be identified with certainty; they may be activities of the superconscious, they may come from the Higher or Transpersonal Self, or they may have other sources.” [24]

Partial conclusion on sub-personalities and pyramid of needs

Both Assagioli and Maslow use an evolutionary model in their description of the human self-actualization process, understood as human development through a progressive process in which the satisfaction of higher and higher needs is central.

This makes it likely that the concept of subpersonality can theoretically be placed within Maslow’s pyramid of needs, since subpersonalities probably arise as a result of the satisfaction of needs at the different levels of the pyramid, as shown above.

The core of any subpersonality is therefore assumed to be a need that is directed towards the satisfaction of some level of need in the pyramid. The emergence of a new need from the higher unconscious can therefore contribute to the creation of an entirely new subpersonality – a series of character traits, social skills, cognitive abilities – all directed towards satisfying the new need.

Whether multiple sub-personalities can arise at the same level in the pyramid of needs, which collectively take care of the satisfaction of needs at the current level, is not clear. But I find it likely, as I can easily imagine different roles and functions (sub-personalities) operating within different areas of life, e.g. at work and at home, and all of which take care of, for example, the security needs.

From a theoretical perspective , I would like to conclude that the subpersonalities can be placed within the framework of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In the following, I will exemplify this through a clinical case story.

Therapeutic work with subpersonalities and the pyramid of needs

Karen was a 42-year-old woman who sought a psychotherapeutic course with the aim of working with the after-effects of work-related burnout.

In September 2003, she had quit her permanent job in the consulting industry with the aim of changing her career path in life. She therefore began a full-time postgraduate education in pedagogy at university level. Her intention with this year of education (with state support) was to relax and immerse herself in new areas, and then take up a new job in the autumn of 2004. But the period was far from being as harmonious and relaxed as she had intended, because throughout the entire period 2003 – 2004 there was an inner insecurity and stress that drove her into diverse work activities. She often asked herself why on earth she was working so hard and gradually it became clear that the uncertain job situation in the future was making her permanently insecure.

In May 2004, she applied for and was offered a consulting position in her original field of work, even though she had explicitly promised herself not to work in that field anymore. She had run out of resources and inspiration in this field since 2001, but fear for the future – an indefinable fear at that time – made her change her mind. The employment was short-lived – five months – but these months made it clear that the race was over for that type of job. There were no more resources and the stress threatened to make her physically ill. In November 2004, she reported herself as fully unemployed and had to face her insecurity.

It was at this time that she contacted me to work with her stress state. It was in one of the first sessions that the “Refugee” first appeared. (see drawing of the Refugee) In this specific session, she took as her starting point her fear of the future and the fundamental insecurity she found herself in. The contact with the inner stress state and the feeling of “living to survive” created an inner image of the Refugee, which she expressed in a drawing. (see appendix 2.) Freehand drawing is one of the most valuable therapeutic tools that I often use when a sub-personality needs to be identified. The drawing was also a revelation for Karen, as it reveals the sub-personality’s primary needs and strategy in an excellent way.

The refugee

The refugee had clearly been activated by her work situation, as the shift from a secure job to an uncertain future created feelings of fear and insecurity, as well as a need to find new security in life. In this regard, it is relatively easy to see the correspondence to Maslow’s safety needs. The strategy that the refugee chose to secure her safety needs was to encourage Karen to work “around the clock” to create a new income base through the development of new educational programs. For many years, she had survived materially by selling her knowledge and education. Now this knowledge was no longer sufficient as an income base for new and higher needs had announced their arrival[25] and forced her to leave an otherwise secure career path and income base.

Need for security and fear of the future
What was the primary driving force in the Refugee’s work activity was partly the need for security, and in the current situation a strong fear of the future. The fear is clearly reflected in the drawing and the retrospective face, which is directed at past events, where traumatic experiences of “meaninglessness” lie buried. The therapy revealed a deep fear of being forced into meaningless jobs of the past (regression), where her potentials could not be allowed to unfold.

Fear is also expressed in the drawing through the large hand of fate, which is a symbol of both the power of the authorities over her life, but also the fear of “God’s unknown will.”

The feverish activity of studying and formulating new teaching programs was a way of numbing the pain. As long as she worked, she could keep the fear at bay. It was not, of course, a fear that was equally strong at all times, but it lay like an underlying threat and disturbed her being .

The therapeutic sessions, where the Refugee was the center, helped her to identify and accept a primary sub-personality that largely controlled her everyday life. It was particularly revealing to see the almost groping way the Refugee moved forward towards the “star” and the future, with her face turned towards the past. The release of the pain and despair the sub-personality felt over the meaninglessness of the past helped to calm it down a bit. But deep within the Refugee there was also a feeling of worthlessness, of not being appreciated for her potential (self-esteem needs), and therefore the fear of having to do “slave work”.

Transpersonal potential in the Refugee
It was a profound realization to see the Refugee’s need for meaningful work, where Karen’s higher need to teach refugee integration could be expressed. Pure survival is not enough for this sub-personality and one can therefore ask oneself the question whether this is really a sub-personality that primarily takes care of security needs?

The above clearly shows that both self-esteem needs (work that matches one’s abilities) and self-actualization needs (idealistic goals) are involved. The refugee does not want to take just any job!

However, it was Karen’s emotional and intuitive feeling about this sub-personality that it primarily seeks to survive financially and materially. The explanation for the sub-personality’s ambiguous motivational factors can be viewed in several ways:

When a person’s overall focus is directed towards higher needs, meaning that the center of gravity of the personal self lies on the border between the personal and transpersonal realms, then there is a tendency for all parts of the personality to be colored by the higher values ​​of the personal self . This is of course not true in all cases, because there are many examples of how highly developed people, for example in an artistic sense, can be quite neurotic in certain areas.

Another important explanation is through the assumption that every subpersonality contains a transpersonal potential,  no matter how distorted it expresses itself .  A subpersonality that was originally developed to take care of the ego’s security needs will later do so in an altruistic way. This is a hypothesis that is popular in the psychosynthesis community, but which I have not been able to verify in any of Assagioli’s writings, so it is probably a working hypothesis that was developed after his death.

In the case of the Refugee, this hypothesis is exemplified through a sub-personality that has a strong need for security to earn money to sustain life, but at the same time wants to do so in a meaningful way . The need for meaning and to earn money through the exploitation of one’s higher potentials creates a synthesis between the higher and lower needs. In the case of the Refugee, the goal is to express transpersonal “meta-needs” through financial earnings. This example shows how complex and ambiguous the human psyche works.

The refugee’s development
At present (May 2005), the refugee is still uneasy, as she still experiences an uncertain income base. However, the situation has improved greatly after the therapeutic course and because she has been given part-time work where she can work on her ideas.

Karen’s work with this subpersonality has consisted of creating a fundamental trust in the future, based on the abilities she has now and those she is developing. A trust that the inner resources she has are sufficient to ensure her a source of income for herself and her family. Trust in her own abilities, the good will of others and the greater meaning (God), has become the transpersonal potential that is sought to be developed through this process. Karen is well on her way in this regard.

Conclusion

It is my impression that through this case story, I have made it probable that one can also practically apply the concept of subpersonalities in the context of Maslow’s pyramid of needs. But also that it seems as if the different basic levels of needs are not as sharply separated as the pyramid might lead one to believe. The needs in practice interfere with each other, especially in a situation where the threat of physical survival is not as imminent as in certain developing countries. It must also be taken into account that Karen was largely governed by self-actualization needs, which will inevitably color the subpersonalities that are in play – in contrast to a person where money alone was a value.

Placing the sub-personalities in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs greatly supports the identification of the central needs that govern the sub-personalities, as well as a theoretical frame of reference that can help categorize them into different classes. It creates an overview and strengthens the ability to make choices (use the will), based on a good overview of the inner sub-personalities that are activated by this choice and their primary motives.

As is evident from the above partial conclusions, I believe that it is possible to establish a justified hypothesis that it is possible to use Assagioli’s concept of subpersonalities together with Maslow’s pyramid of needs. Both theoretically and practically. Of course, much more research needs to be done on the subject before we can know for sure, but in my opinion there are good arguments for initiating such a research project, as Maslow’s pyramid of needs gives the diverse subpersonalities a suitable frame of reference that can contribute to shedding further light on the emergence of the subpersonalities, their primary motivations and how they are united in a higher synthesis.

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Also read the article subpersonalities and psychotherapy