Presence-based psychotherapy is a fundamental element of psychosynthesis, as much emphasis is placed on discovering the present observer. The article describes the foundation of presence-based psychotherapy through cases and theory.
By Kenneth Sørensen , the theme is central to the book The Soul of Psychosynthesis. Here you can receive seven free meditations , where you develop different aspects of yourself, one of them is about presence.
___________________
“Since a good personal psychosynthesis is all we can hope for in many of our patients, the idea around which the whole of personal psychosynthesis revolves is the personal self as a center of self-consciousness. It is realized together with the recognition and application of its governing will, which is of the utmost importance” (Assagioli, 1975, p.87)
When I first met Maja in my psychotherapeutic practice, it was clear that she lived in her head. I could also feel that I quickly became irritated by her rationalizations and lack of contact with her body and her emotional life. She was in the truest sense of the word “superficial” because her world consisted of sensible concepts that lacked emotional depth and bodily experience. On the other hand, that was precisely why she had come to me, because she was unhappy with her lack of love life. She was now 33 years old and had not yet started a family. It had been 5 years since she had last been in a relationship, so she felt how desperate she had gradually become because her friends were having children and establishing themselves in families. That is to say, she had a relationship with a married man, but it was clear that he had never intended to leave his wife, so that relationship was currently bringing more pain than happiness.
I knew that our journey would immediately involve a “descent” into the physical and emotional realms and that presence and intimacy would be the first destination. When she said she was unhappy, there was no emotional charge in the “room” and when she spoke of her love for the man, I couldn’t feel her either.
In other words, we had to bring presence and awareness down into the body. I wanted to point out the fact that she could identify with the observer and sense all the bodily and emotional reactions that lay behind words like: “I am unhappy”, “I love him” etc. I wanted her to gain depth in her experience so that she could consciously choose to include a much larger part of her inner world. In short, I wanted to train her to become a present center of pure self-awareness and will. That is, a loving witness to her psychological processes.
What does it really mean to be “a center of pure self-awareness and will”?
We know that it is one of the central definitions of the self that Roberto Assagioli uses, regardless of whether we are talking about the personal or transpersonal Self. But how does one work with this self-experience in practice and why is it important? These are questions that are incredibly important to answer if we want to understand what specifically constitutes the soul of Psychosynthesis.
In a statement to psychosynthesis centers around the world (On Psychosynthesis Training ), Roberto Assagioli describes what he understands to be the essential features of Psychosynthesis, and here disidentification and the personal self are the first two points out of seven.
What makes Psychosynthesis unique, compared to many other psychotherapeutic approaches, is precisely that it defines the central identity as pure consciousness and as something completely different from the content of consciousness of thoughts, feelings and sensations. Assagioli was deeply inspired by the Eastern and especially yoga philosophy’s perception of the Self. He wrote, among other things, the preface to the Italian edition of Alice Bailey’s commentary on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
Assagioli’s oval diagram
Pure awareness, wakefulness, and presence are all words that point to the fundamental fact that we are conscious. That we can observe the content of consciousness, or the stream of consciousness, from a neutral observing place. In fact, it is not a place, but who we fundamentally are, for when in meditation we seek to observe the observer, or turn consciousness towards its own source, we find nothing but consciousness (and will, but more on that later.)
In other words, it is possible to observe all the psychological processes that take place inside us, and the value of this is obvious in a psychotherapeutic context. When I work with clients, I use the metaphor of the “inner house” for the three levels of the oval diagram (see diagram). The lower unconscious is the basement, the middle unconscious is the first floor, and the superconscious is the second floor. On each of these floors there are different energies and needs that affect the self (the observer) in different directions. There are even rooms where subpersonalities live, which affect the mood of the entire house. Assagioli himself made a comparison between Maslow’s pyramid of needs and the oval diagram, which I illustrate below.[1]
It was clear that Maja was predominantly on the floor of her inner house that was governed by rationality and logic. She was completely unaware of the wealth of nuances that she contained “below her” and “above her”. When we turn the light of consciousness towards the interior, an enlightenment occurs, in other words, we begin to recognize what we contain and what influences our behavior in many directions. In practice, however, it is much more difficult than it sounds, because it is often uncomfortable to enter the dark rooms where old painful conditions live, but conversely it is a prerequisite for freedom.
Presence-based psychosynthesis therapy is about training the client to be present and aware of what is happening in the body, emotions and thoughts when we talk about a particular theme. In practical terms, I ask the client to turn their attention inward after I have introduced the person to the idea of the inner house and their consciousness as the light that can illuminate what is going on inside.
The oval diagram and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
The client can sit with their eyes closed or open depending on their temperament and I slowly guide the client into a calm, attentive observation of their breathing, bodily sensations, moods and thoughts that relate to the theme we are working with. What happens in this state is a kind of reflective meditation on the content of the client’s consciousness, as well as training in putting the right precise words to the energies that are sensed and observed. The effect of this work is to “come home in oneself”, to use all floors and to create a new and better atmosphere in the inner spaces.
When Maja talked about her unhappiness, we spent time feeling where in her body it felt. Was it hot, cold, heavy, cutting, sucking… We examined the emotional nuances of the unhappiness, which resulted in her actually discovering that she was also angry. At herself and the “man” because she felt exploited and allowed herself to be exploited. Maja was what I would call an emotional and physical illiterate because her experience was reduced to a small rational slice of her inner reality. For the same reason, her language contained few words that could describe what was going on inside. But gradually as the sessions progressed, she began to experience greater intimacy with herself and her inner world.
To come home to oneself is to be able to be with what is, without fixing or running away from it. Next, the task is to be able to master it, because it is not enough to simply witness one’s experiences. Being at home, but consciously a slave to one’s reaction patterns is not very attractive, so we must make ourselves the “master of the house”. This is precisely what psychosynthesis is about. Mastery requires love and will beyond consciousness, and I will make this clear in the following.
Love is a must
Being able to be with what is is the basis of presence-based psychotherapy, but observing the processes is only the first stage. The next step is to be able to accommodate, accept and include what is observed. In other words, love must be included in the process, since many of the states and sub-personalities we encounter in the inner house are homeless, abandoned and outcast. I usually say:
Observe all that is…
Love all that is…
Empathy is the key word in this context, because being able to empathize with the states and understand them from the inside is precisely what unites and heals. Love is magnetic and it creates an integration and basically a synthesis or a fusion between the lover and the loved. It creates intimacy.
In the beginning, it is often the psychosynthetic therapist who must hold the inclusive space of acceptance, because the client is so identified with that within them that repels or represses the unwanted energies and sub-personalities. But the presence and taking the perspective – or I would rather say – the identity as the loving witness, will slowly release the inner tension between the ostracizer (a sub-personality) and the ostracized (a sub-personality).
In relation to Maja, the task was for her to discover her feelings and be able to own them, that is, to accept that they belonged to her and were important to relate to. In the beginning, I was to function as the externally unifying center of empathy. But presence-based psychosynthesis therapy will, as quickly as possible, place the responsibility on the client. This is done by strengthening the client’s identification with the loving observer who contains the vulnerable sides.
In other words, the presence-based psychosynthesis therapy will guide the client into an open, attentive and accepting way of being, by pointing out the fundamental fact that the client is existentially the loving witness. It is in this process that we establish the center of pure consciousness and will, and here we touch on one of the very central elements of Psychosynthesis.
Psychosynthesis differs from Gestalt therapy and other approaches that also consciously use presence. We point out that there is a center that is a subject, an inner identity behind thoughts, feelings, sensations, which we call the self. This self is a living being whose basic features are consciousness and will. That is, it can be aware of what is happening inside and choose how it will relate to what is happening. (More about that later). It is also in relation to the self as a living subject that psychosynthesis differs from Buddhism and mindfulness-based approaches. In Buddhism, there is no center, no self, and in this context it becomes more difficult to work with integration.
Psychosynthesis is about integrating, harmonizing, synthesizing all elements in the three unconscious areas around a center. The center is the very prerequisite for us to be able to gather the detached parts that are often in conflict with themselves. The center is the observer. This observation is not an idea or a theory, it is a fundamental fact that everyone can wake up to. At the beginning of the process, the observer is more of a theory, or a perspective that you take. Most clients understand well that they can observe their content, because that is what they experience in the presence-based approach.
However, this is not the same as the awakening that occurs when they truly recognize that they are consciousness. That their fundamental identity is always consciousness, wakefulness, unbound by the processes of consciousness, thoughts, feelings and sensations. This is a revolution for the client when this happens, because now a place has been found that is always calm, stable, present, the same. The client has found the eye of the hurricane and that the discovery itself is so simple and straightforward is almost shocking. The effect is first and foremost freedom and an ability to take a step back in relation to all the strong pulling forces that work within.
When there is still a strong identification with the mental, then the observation can become mental, cool and completely neutral. But when the body and emotional life are included, then the experience of the observation becomes intimate and present. This is because consciousness works through all three basic functions: Thought, emotion and body.
Over time, Maja experienced an increased ability to be much more present, here and now, with what she was experiencing in a given moment. She gained a more nuanced language and an ability to step out of the stream of consciousness by breathing, observing what was happening, and from there choosing what the right perspective could be.
Disidentification is a cornerstone of psychosynthesis therapy
However, there is another important ability that must be added and trained before the observer becomes a reality for the client, and that is the practical application of disidentification . The presence-based psychosynthesis therapist must continuously reflect to the client that he or she is basically the loving observer. However, it is a longer and more drawn-out process that often requires a lot of work because the client has identified so strongly with learned and limiting beliefs that cannot be immediately dissolved. Disidentification is taking the position of observer and seeing one’s states from a distance. We are often so identified with these states that they are right up in the face. They can be feelings or beliefs or external objects such as our belongings or people around us. When we disidentify with something, we do as the American thinker Ken Wilber says: “subjects to objects”. That is a brilliant way of saying it, because suddenly you can see something that was previously “me” becoming something external.
This does not mean that we create a complete separation between ourselves as the observer and the observed, for the intention is precisely to be able to meet that side of ourselves with love, as the loving witness. A prerequisite for us to be able to love something is that we create a duality between the lover and the thing to be loved.
There has been a backlash against Roberto Assagioli’s original disidentification exercise in the psychosynthesis community. The original exercise contains the affirmations: I have a body, but I am not my body , I have some feelings but I am not my feelings, I have some thoughts but I am not my thoughts. Several have changed this to I have a body, but I am more than the body, etc. The argument is that radical disidentification can create a separation and perhaps in some cases a dissociation with what one disidentifies oneself from. This difference in nuance still allows an identification with the body and I understand that well when working with beginners . Or people with a very uncertain personality structure. Not all people are ready to identify with consciousness, because it is a completely new paradigm shift in relation to identity.
It is a radical awakening to affirm that one is consciousness, but existentially Assagioli is right and he is in good company with all the great mystical paths of knowledge, yogic, tantric, Buddhist and Christian, which affirm the same thing. We are consciousness . Psychosynthesis is in that sense a true synthesis between the wisdom of the East and the deep insights of the West into the unconscious. When the client is willing to take the position of observer, and I have no clients who are not able to, then one should use it in therapy as soon as possible, cf. Assagioli’s recommendations.
A prerequisite for this to be possible at all is that the psychosynthetic therapist himself works as an observer and can keep that space in the room. It requires keen observation, to hear all the places where the client has identified himself, because it is revealed through communication every time the client confirms his identity with a thought, feeling or his body. I am angry, frustrated, ugly, stupid, etc. When the psychosynthetic therapist himself functions as an observer, it becomes possible to point out the identification and initiate a disidentification process.
There are many ways to do this. If the client sits with their eyes closed and is present and sensitive to the inner space, then you can work on putting states and sub-personalities into the hands. In this way, a distinction is made between the loving observer, who is awake in the head and loves from the heart, and the state or sub-personality you are working with that is out of hand. With open eyes, you can draw the state, then it is also objectified or you can place it on a chair in the room. Now it becomes possible to love it from the position you are sitting in. The decisive factor, and what makes it psychosynthesis therapy, is that the therapist keeps the perspective that the client is the observer. That is, the client constantly reflects on his or her fundamental identity as consciousness. Unless, as part of the process, you allow a temporary full identification with the wounded child, the victim, etc. as a way of experiencing and owning the process, until the identification with it can be let go.
In some situations, the client is simply unable to disidentify because the pain is too strong or the gain is too great, as is often the case when one is victim-identified. In these cases, the psychosynthetic therapist can keep the possibility open in the field and gradually train the client in the ability to meet the condition from a distance with an open heart.
In practice, one works with three perspectives in a presence-based approach: First-, Second- and Third-person perspective. In the first-person perspective, one is fully identified with the condition, one consciously enters and experiences what it is like to be in full contact with all the conditions or processes of the sub-personality. If the client is aware of himself as an observer, then in reality an observing space will be reserved, where one reflects on the experience while diving into it. In the second-person perspective, one is in dialogue with the condition, asking questions and listening to answers. Here, the aim is to achieve cooperation and a loving exchange between the observer and the sub-personality/condition. In the third-person perspective, one sees the condition from a distance and describes and talks about it.
There is often a flow and flexible alternation between the different perspectives and when they are mastered by the therapist, they are an incredibly valuable tool for insight and integration.
The Small Self and Transpersonal Self
There is only one self. Assagioli was very clear in his statement that there are basically no multiple selves, but only the same self that unfolds on different levels. That is, the consciousness, the inner light, the presence are the same. It is the extent of consciousness, how much the self can contain and include in its conscious identification, that determines how big the self is. An enlightened person will know with absolute certainty and from inner experience that the consciousness that looks out through your eyes is the same consciousness that looks out through mine.
The difference between the personal self and the transpersonal Self is therefore fundamentally how liberated the observer is. When we experience the personal self as pure consciousness, there is still an experience of separation. There is a clear experience that “I” is something completely different from “you”. This is because the observation continues to function through the mental field, which limits and creates duality.
When consciousness, on the other hand, crosses the border into the superconscious, it is experienced as if consciousness spontaneously expands far beyond the boundaries of the body into infinity. There is a complete cessation of thoughts and thus one escapes the separate prison that the mental creates. It is a state of peace, freedom and an ability to be here-and-now. Thinking is experienced almost like putting on a straitjacket. It can certainly be done, but it is like limiting the unlimited in a much too small form. There is still an experience of “me-ness” (I-Amness), so there is full identity. I am never anything other than me, it is just a much more liberated me that is not tied to the personal history that the little me is.
It is of course very rare that in a presence-based psychotherapy one gets the opportunity to point to the more transcendent self-experience. However, it does happen once in a while, especially if the psychosynthesis therapist has a serious meditation practice and regularly practices presence meditation. A very powerful method is to maintain eye contact with the client for a long time and just be. Let go completely into the consciousness of the other.
These deep eye contacts can create these experiences of peace and freedom, especially if the psychosynthesis therapist knows how to transmit the state. It is a practice I have privately trained for a long time and occasionally there is a client who spontaneously discovers this possibility or simply has a need to maintain presence. A while ago it arose spontaneously and we sat for 45 minutes without uttering a word. We both knew that something transpersonal, a deeper being was activated. Time ceases and two souls are simply together in a timeless now and the result is deep peace. The client said afterwards. “It is the first time ever that another human being has been able to be with me in my deepest being.”
There is one self but many I-es
The star diagram of psychosynthesis
A presence-based psychosynthesis therapy is concerned with developing a whole person who can express themselves freely through all their psychological functions. Physical, emotional, mental and intuitive, etc. Ideally, this requires that the functions are developed and that the identity is withdrawn from the functions, so that one actually experiences that one has a body, but is not one’s body . Assagioli describes the functions in the star diagram (see diagram) as: 1. sensation (the body), 2. feeling, 3. desire, 4, imagination, 5. thought, 6. intuition, 7. will. The white light in the middle is consciousness and the self.
A presence-based psychosynthesis therapy will always point to the fact, when the client is clear, that identity is based in consciousness. There are no other identifications that give the same degree of freedom, because once one has awakened to consciousness itself, one can identify with anything . Consciousness is free, unbound and can flow through all the psychological functions and provide valuable experiences. Nothing else in us has that quality.
For example, the body should function as a valuable function through which one physically acts. Body awareness helps to integrate the body with the other functions: emotions, imagination, thoughts, desires and intuition, so that they can express themselves freely through the body.
This requires disidentification from the body, so that from the observer’s position we can examine and experience the body’s reactions from all three perspectives. It also requires that we activate the body in therapy, through touch, role play and other active methods. In this way we can observe the body in action, where it is liberated and where it is inhibited.
I once worked with a man who couldn’t feel his emotions at all and no matter what exercises I did with him – presence, drawing, role-playing, access to the emotions was closed. I had a sudden impulse to reach out and touch him on his thigh. Now he could feel his feelings of discomfort and it was a breakthrough in therapy. We had to go through the body to access his emotions.
When our true identity is consciousness itself, what is the purpose of all the other identities we create in relation to the roles we play in life or the psychological functions we are identified with?
Assagioli’s oval diagram – stages of consciousness
We are identified with being a father, a lover, a doctor, smart, sensitive, beautiful, ugly, strong, etc. Ken Wilber talks about how we have different stage selves, meaning that throughout our developmental psychological journey, we identify with different aspects of ourselves. At the beginning, we identify with the body and it comes to function as the seat of consciousness’ identification. The entire external world with all its physical objects is also included in this identity. The body, its appearance and the external things become what defines who you are. We could call it the body-self .
Later, the emotional life becomes the seat of identity and we identify with what makes us feel safe and comfortable. Family, experiences and relationships – we could call it the feeling self .
Later, we become preoccupied with defining our identity mentally, through the particular lifestyle we consciously choose. Education, work, interests, ideas, culture, and the particular group of people who belong to one’s subculture now become what constitutes one’s identity. This could be called the thought-self.
When consciousness awakens to the fact that it is part of a larger global reality on the external level and a coherence with life on the internal level, we enter the transpersonal worlds. This is where the soul-self begins to take shape. Now consciousness becomes preoccupied with finding its meaning, that is, its place in the larger global context. Where can I serve and contribute to creating a better world, is a typical question asked in this phase. Life purpose, finding one’s calling and developing one’s consciousness and identity become absolutely central.
There are many stages and different ways of experiencing this reality depending on which psychological function one is most identified with. The most important awakening that occurs in this phase, however, is the realization of oneself as consciousness, freed from the psychological functions. Consciousness is the soul, more or less limited by the different functions with which we have identified ourselves.
It is this awakening, partial and more or less realized, that is one of the main purposes of presence-based psychotherapy. It presupposes a healing, a harmonization and development of all the psychological functions because consciousness needs healthy I-es to unfold through. In contrast to many of the classic Eastern and Western mystical paths of knowledge, Psychosynthesis has an approach that is about entering life and developing it with all the resources we have. The classic religions often have a main motif that is about getting out of physical life. Psychosynthesis and many of the modern spiritual expressions focus more on manifesting spirituality.
Seen from that perspective, the purpose of the body-self, the feeling-self and the thought-self is to act as temporary focal points of identity until the time comes when the person is ready to identify with consciousness itself. Transpersonally, this means taking the leap into the soul’s timeless, omnipresent Now, which experiences life through a love-saturated wholeness of consciousness. This NOW is also in its essence the Universal Self, which is the conscious presence of a living being and this living being is you, me and all that exists.
The psychological functions aim to offer the possibility of action because there is something within us that wants to manifest itself, with everything we contain, in a completely free expression. This something is the will within us.
The will; the evolutionary impulse within us.
The will is of course central to any presence- and will-based psychosynthesis therapy. Assagioli goes so far as to indicate that we are a will. If there is one aspect of Psychosynthesis that truly makes it a unique approach, it must be the emphasis on the will. But what is will? We often have a very limited perception of the will, as something powerful and strong, where we can mechanically push things through.
However, the will is much more something alive , an energy that lives within and that encourages us to grow, become greater, more authentic and true. The will is a direct aspect of the self, which in addition to consciousness is also LIFE. Dynamic life, which continuously seeks to manifest itself, to develop itself and in that sense we can say that the will is the evolutionary impulse in every human being. It is both personal, transpersonal and universal, that is to say that what set the Big Bang in motion also lives in you and me.
The will is not the same as strong emotions and desires, which can be powerful in their own way. The will is more the decision and intention behind the conscious expression of the strong emotions. The self is both pure consciousness, which is static, immobile – a witness. But also the motivating force that sets everything in motion, when, of course, we have consciously awakened to this function. Assagioli uses Aristotle’s expression that the self is the unmoved mover .
However, we are often guided by external influences and unconscious inner drives, rather than conscious intention. In other words, the will is something we must develop access to, just like pure consciousness. The consciousness of the self informs us of who we are, it leads to realization. The will connects us with direction and purpose and tells us what direction our life can take if we want to get the most out of it. The consciousness of the self is the captain of a ship, while the will is the helmsman.
In this way, consciousness is a prerequisite for the will. Because making conscious choices requires awareness of the possible choices. Far from all choices are made consciously and therefore many of our actions do not arise from the will, but rather from one of the other psychological functions. Fear, desire, ideas, hunger can be motivating forces behind unconscious choices.
Assagioli describes the aspects of the will as: good, strong and intelligent. Its levels as: personal, transpersonal and universal. Its many qualities and the methods we can train it with. In a presence and will-based psychotherapy, it will always be emphasized that the client learns to listen to his will, his experience of what is true identity, and how to express it in life.
Seen from that perspective, identity is not something you just are, it is something that is continuously chosen as we become conscious. The will is the very ability to consciously identify and disidentify . To say: “This is who I am!” or “This is not me!” When we identify with something, we give it life and attention – will and awareness. What we give life to becomes strong and vital. What we withdraw life and attention from gradually dies.
When we truly direct our consciousness towards its own source, for example in deep mindfulness meditation, we discover that we always hold an intention , a purpose , regardless of whether it requires any effort whatsoever. Regardless of the state we are in, we cannot avoid the fact that a choice has been made, and that as long as the action is maintained, the intention is kept alive in consciousness. This intention is the will. We also experience that although we can choose to be what we want, there is something that is experienced as more true than anything else. What tells us what is true “me”, it is the dynamic energy that shows a direction. It is the will.
We are, in other words, “a center of pure consciousness and will.”
Will-based psychosynthesis therapy.
All of these perspectives above must be translated into the presence- and will-based psychosynthesis therapy! Therefore, one of the first things I always ask the client is: Where is the journey going? What kind of growth do you want in this process? I use metaphors such as becoming the captain of your own life, so that the client sets their own course and controls it. Becoming the master of your own house is also a good metaphor.
I am pointing to the fundamental fact that there is a force present in the client’s life that WANTS to be themselves. The will to be themselves is one of the most important driving forces to discover. We also call it the need for authenticity, genuineness, and to be unique.
When the client finds out their goal, a focus of will arises, which can be about anything from greater being, spontaneity, peace – in short, goals that are not normally associated with the will. But precisely because the will is often misunderstood and not seen for what it is, namely the intention behind every conscious action.
Maja was concerned with making her love life work. She wanted her love to succeed and the first sessions were about her consciously taking responsibility for it by deciding to start a therapeutic process. In the sessions I am always very conscious of not making decisions on behalf of my clients, precisely because the client is empowered by the responsibility that comes with making the decisions themselves.
In Maja’s case, it was about ending the affair with the man she was having a sexual relationship with. The relationship was unworthy of her own needs and values. However, she was also aware that she was dependent on the affirmation she received and the hope that he would one day be hers.
In other words, there was a conflict between her will and her desire, something most people have had a clear experience of. The will in her confirmed that she deserved better because it is the very living energy that carries the experience of freedom and greatness within it. It is the evolutionary force that continuously pushes us beyond our comfort zones and desires more freedom, more love, more greatness. The will carries the power of the archetypal king and queen, which is basically the soul and the transpersonal self.
Once that flame of development is awakened and acknowledged, whether on a personal or transpersonal level, a clear direction comes into a person’s life. For Maja, this meant confronting an inferiority complex that kept her in relationships where she was not 100% seen and chosen. During therapy, she understood that it was actually a direct reflection of her not seeing herself and choosing her needs.
The will is freedom and therefore the opposite of dependence and victim roles. When the will is not included in the therapeutic space, one often experiences that clients regress to an immature level. Especially if the therapist focuses unilaterally on care and thus keeps the client in a dependent relationship with the therapist, which can never be the purpose of psychosynthesis therapy.
When reflecting the client’s will nature, it may be a good idea to call the chair the client is sitting in the director’s chair, the captain’s chair, the instructor’s chair, in short, the chair where decisions are made. It is about getting the client to consciously identify with being the conscious loving witness who makes decisions. All other sides of the client can be objectified by placing chairs in the room that represent the different sub-personalities. Which can either cooperate with the client’s goals or are opponents to it.
The most important reflection, however, occurs in the relationship between client and therapist. When the therapist is a good authentic authority, both professionally and personally, that power is transmitted to the client. When the client experiences that the therapist is constantly seeking to free the client to be everything the person chooses and has the opportunity to be, the client experiences being seen in his or her strength .
This transmission or transfer of strength is a central focus of a presence-based and will-based psychosynthesis therapy. It helps the client to see themselves as the therapist does and to identify with what the client chooses to be their true self at this level of development.
Psychosynthesis training in schools
I hope that the above presentation of the presence- and will-based psychosynthesis therapy can inspire the psychosynthetic training centers to focus more on the essential elements of psychosynthesis. Roberto Assagioli gave us only the preliminary sketches of this valuable work, so it must be up to us to bring this legacy into a living practice.
If the students had direct experience with the observer, disidentification and the will as a living force, and learned to practice it, then a great step would have been taken. Psychosynthesis is peace work , because it brings the conflicting sides together in a harmonious expression. But a prerequisite for peace to arise is that the client discovers his loving dynamic center, which is the inner peacemaker.
At the Norwegian Institute for Psychosynthesis, where I will be the professional leader from 2015, we will focus a large part of our training on achieving precisely this.
Kenneth Sørensen has an MA in psychosynthesis at the University of East London and in psychosynthesis psychotherapy from the Norwegian Institute for Psychosynthesis. Since 1988, he has had a daily meditation practice centered around a love- and wisdom-oriented approach.
He has worked in social psychiatry for 10 years, as an educational consultant and through his own business he has held various courses in psychosynthesis, meditation and energy psychology for 12 years. He is an experienced psychosynthesis psychotherapist who is passionate about developing psychotherapeutic practice.
He has written several books on esoteric and integral spirituality at his publishing house, which also publishes other books in the field. His latest book is ‘The Call of Greatness, Integral meditation and the way to freedom’.
[1] Assagioli, Roberto, The Act of Will, chapter 9
How to move forward
Here you can receive seven free meditations where you develop different aspects of yourself.
Also read the article The Self – a Unifying Center
