Interpersonal psychosynthesis – 1

No man is an island

“No man is an island, Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s Or of thine own were.
Any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.”

J. Donne

Individual psychosynthesis is not, and cannot be, an end in itself because each of us is closely connected to other people and groups. When we are on a true path of personal growth – which implies, above all, differentiating ourselves from others and discovering our personal centre – we gradually realise that the isolated individual does not exist. “The experience of loneliness is not considered in Psychosynthesis either ultimate or essential. It is a stage, a temporary subjective condition. It can and does alternate with, and finally can be substituted by the genuine living experience of interpersonal and inter-individual communication, relationship, interplay; by the cooperation between individuals and groups – and even by a blending, through intuition, empathy, understanding and identification.” (Assagioli, 1965)  These are expressions, at the interpersonal level, of the general law of synthesis (Assagioli, 1973). Starting to understand the nature and needs of others and taking into account their wishes and aspirations as well, means reflecting on the good aspect of the will; that is equivalent to asking: how do I harmonise my will with the will of others?

Therefore, in the elaboration of the plan for a harmonious development of the personality, we reserve a specific space for the relational aspect of interpersonal psychosynthesis, which deals with the integration and harmonisation of ever larger groups of human beings, from couples to the whole of humanity. Assagioli (2022) states that the two kinds of psychosynthesis, personal and interpersonal, must be carried out simultaneously because if there is not a certain degree of psychosynthesis in the individuals who make up the groups and the community, the cooperation between them is also hindered and can even be prevented. This is a very important point: the individual life plan must be coordinated, integrated and harmonised with plans that include other people.

One of the most important objectives of Psychosynthesis is that of experiencing the great truth that we are not limited and closed within ourselves, that in a certain sense “others are us and that we are others”, to encourage the experience of solidarity, sharing, brotherhood, union and love.

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