General assessment – 4

Typology: the different paths to self-realisation

The ways that individuals choose to follow their self-realisation path, varies depending on the different individual constitutions. Psychosynthesis identifies seven main ways, without however considering them separate from each other. Often, in fact, in real life, they overlap; thus, a person can follow simultaneously more than one way. However, it is useful to investigate and understand their specificity and their peculiarities.

These seven ways correspond to the seven typologies indicated by Assagioli, as follows:

  • the will type
  • the love type
  • the active – practical type
  • the creative – artistic type
  • the scientific type
  • the devotional – idealistic type
  • the organisational type

It seems important to me to clarify that Psychosynthesis maintains a cautious attitude in relation to the classifications of individuals. At the same time, it is also true that, with all the necessary precautions, classifications allow to highlight groups of traits that qualify people, thereby contributing to a more complete understanding of the human being. In fact, the typology predisposes the individual to certain strengths and to certain vulnerabilities, endowing him or her with specific characteristics that will guide them to personal accomplishments in certain areas of human activities and less in others.

Therefore, the meaning of the psychosynthetic work on typologies lies in the information that can be derived from it; this information broadens our self-knowledge and guides our bio-psycho-spiritual development, directing it towards the realisation of our authentic vocation. Not only that, but the study of psychological types can also help us to accept and better understand others and to relate to them in a more harmonious way.

Assagioli (Assagioli, 1978, pp. 9-11) summarised in the following way the fundamental aspects of this approach:

  1. expression of one’s own type: accepting, recognising, and developing its potentials, taking ownership of the tools which life has given us, and committing to manifest them in the most complete and evolved way;
  2. regulation: developing the ability to discipline the dominant faculties in order to avoid that they will takeover, leading to unilateral and hypertrophic developments;
  3. harmonisation: giving space to underlying functions, nurturing those faculties which are not part of our current psychological make-up and resolving our inner conflicts caused by our specific typology, thus leading to greater personal fulfilment.

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