I would like to thank my wife Suzanna and son Alexander who have tolerated my absences whilst completing this project. I am indebted to the Royal College of Nursing who supported and helped to make it possible for me to complete this research. I am grateful to the psychosynthesis practitioners who took part, and especially Will Parfitt with whose kind permission I have included his adaptation of Assagioli's diagram representing the psychological constitution of a human person. I would also like to express my appreciation for the patient assistance of Professor Paula McGee who has offered invaluable guidance and encouragement throughout this study.

This study aimed to elicit the views and experiences of practising psychotherapists in the application of the psychosynthesis model of counselling and psychotherapy, through the use of an interpretative phenomenological research approach. Twelve psychosynthesis practitioners were engaged, through the means of telephone interviews, in an exploration of their experiences of using psychosynthesis theories and models in psychotherapeutic and counselling practice.

The findings were grouped into four major themes: the participants' views and experiences of how psychosynthesis benefited clients, facilitated practitioners with a comprehensive theoretical perspective, informed them in their understanding of their role, and how it had limitations. The findings showed that psychosynthesis was thought to benefit clients when practitioners enabled them to make creative use of psychological pain, crisis and failure. Psychosynthesis was also seen to be efficacious when practitioners used the sub-personality model. The theoretical perspective offered by the approach was found to be more conducive to practitioners when compared with psychoanalysis, because it offered a more comprehensive and optimistic framework for understanding the human person. As a result, psychosynthesis was seen to facilitate health and growth more holistically. With regard to the limitations of psychosynthesis, the study concluded that there was a greater ambiguity than in the other themes, especially when the findings concerning its limitations were considered in the light of other available psychosynthesis discourses. Further evidence was required to assert whether or not psychosynthesis could be effective with people who had specifically diagnosed mental illnesses, or those who denied their psychological pain, in favour of acquiring temporarily ameliorating transpersonal experiences, facilitated by psychosynthesis techniques used inappropriately.

The study concluded that practitioners needed to facilitate clients in preliminary meetings, with comprehensive information about psychosynthesis. Practitioners were also encouraged to pay particular attention to clients' abilities to tolerate psychological disturbance, which is pivotal in the course of the psychotherapeutic process. Further studies were recommended, particularly with regard to the future training of psychosynthesis practitioners, to facilitate a comprehensive utilisation of all aspects of Assagioli's theories, especially those regarding the will and spiritual psychosynthesis.

Contents

Introduction to the study

CHAPTER ONE - A review of literature concerning psychosynthesis

• Introduction
• Roberto Assagioli
• Assagioli's theory of psychosynthesis
• Current ideas and developments in psychosynthesis
• Psychosynthesis as a basis for psychotherapeutic practice
• The significance of psychosynthesis and its distinctive contribution to the field of counselling
• The major issues arising from the review of psychosynthesis literature

CHAPTER TWO - The conduct of the investigation

• Introduction
• Theoretical framework and its application
• The researcher being subjectively reflexive in the process of the enquiry
• Method of data collection and design of the instrument
• Issues in conducting telephone interviews
• Rigor
• Sample and location
• Ethical issues

CHAPTER THREE - Findings of the investigation

• Introduction
• How psychosynthesis benefits clients
• The conduciveness of psychosynthesis's theoretical perspective for practitioners
• The psychosynthesis practitioner's role in the service of clients' needs
• The limitations of psychosynthesis

CHAPTER FOUR - A discussion of the study with its implications

• Introduction
• The implications of the methodology used in this enquiry
• The implications of the findings
• Overall conclusion
• Recommendations
• Final concluding summary of the study

References

Appendices

• Appendix 1: Information about the study
• Appendix 2: Consent form
• Appendix 3: University of Central England Research Ethics Committee approval letter
• Appendix 4: Interview questions
• Appendix 5: Letter to participants explaining the process of correspondence prior to being interviewed

URL= http://two.not2.org/psychosynthesis/articles/zenkyle.htm