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June / July 2003

PSYCHOSYNTHESIS: A Psychology of Spirit
BY JOHN FIRMAN AND ANN GILA
SUNY Press, 2003, 224 pp., $24.95,
ISBN: 0791455343.
Reviewed by Daryl S. Paulson

T his is the second psychosynthesis book written by John Firman and Ann Gila. The first was The Primal Wound. Both authors are well situated to write this psychosynthesis book, as they have been involved in the field from the early 1970s. Firman was trained in Italy by Roberto Assagioli himself. Currently, Firman and Gila direct the Psychosynthesis Institute in Palo Alto, California.

The book begins with a clear introduction of what will be covered in terms of developmental theory, personality theory, clinical theory, and relationships with Psychoanalysis. The Authors Then Ground The Book, Describing The Life And Work Of Roberto Assagioli, The Italian Psychiatrist Who Founded Psychosynthesis. Roberto, We Learn, Was Truly A Visionary In His Synthesis Of Western Esotericism, Philosophy, Eastern religions, many aspects of psychology, and classical literature. Assagioli is known to have employed many aspects of neotheosophy (i.e. Alice Bailey’s esoteric writings) in the formation of psychosynthesis, but merely a cursory line regarding this is presented in the book. Additionally, Robert Gerard, Ph.D., collaborated intensely with Assagioli in the writing of Psychosynthesis: A Manual of Principles and Techniques in the late 1950s, as well as in fostering the expansion of the concept in the United States, but Gerard’s contributions are undervalued in psychosynthesis, including in this work.

The authors then present a psychosynthesis model of a person. Although it follows Assagioli’s original view of the “Egg Diagram,” it has been modified by removing the transpersonal self, traditionally depicted at the apex of the higher unconscious portion of the diagram. It now pervades the entire diagram, which probably represents a more useful model.

Firman and Gila take the position that we are born complete but are wounded (primal wounding) by not being fully accepted as the humans we are, an Alice Miller approach. This is certainly true, but only partially so. Firman and Gila have voiced criticism concerning the psychosynthesis community’s lack of ongoing valid research and development in psychosynthesis, but they do not incorporate research either.

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They apply a tried and true humanistic perspective, grounded in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the newer concepts of psychology, which Roberto certainly would have included—e.g., Howard Gardner’s research in multiple lines of intelligence, Robert Kegan’s developmental theory, Wilber’s novel pluralistic life domains: objective, subjective, intersubjective), cognitive behavior therapy, recent perspectives in transpersonal psychology (e.g., Jorge Ferrer, Michael Washburn, Stanislov Grof, Brian Cortright, and Jenny Wade)—have been overlooked. This is unfortunate, because Psychosynthesis clearly needs more reinvigoration if it is to not only survive but also thrive.

The Stages of Psychosynthesis are then presented as follows: stage 0 represents primal wounding; stage 1 represents personality exploration; stage 2 represents the emergence of I; stage 3 represents contact with Self; and stage 4 represents a response to the Self. This portrays an addiction counseling model, in which Firman and Gila are grounded, but is hardly a synthesis of other developmental theories.

Subpersonalities are addressed next and represent the many roles an individual is filling in his/her life. Actually, not much more about developments in subpersonality theory is present than Betsi Carter- Hoar’s subpersonality presentation in the Synthesis Journal, Vol. 1:2, 1975, entitled “Identity and Personal Freedom.”

The authors then discuss the personal self, or I, presenting various experiences of “I,” a pure center of will and awareness. Little has changed from Assagioli’s own words concerning the personal self. However, they do contribute a useful perspective of a unifying center, or source of meaning, incorporating the transpersonal self as being a unifying center for the personal self.

DEVELOPMENTAL MODEL

A psychosynthesis developmental theory is then presented that basically revolves around the concept that humans contain current memories—bodily, affective, and cognitive—of infan-cy, childhood, and adolescence that are primarily in the “here and now” psychic reality of an individual, influencing their lives now. The last chapters deal with the higher and lower unconscious in terms of negative and positive attributes, which are considered, rightly, to result from the childhood splitting and compartmentalization process represented by the “good” me and the “bad” me. The final chapter presents the selfrealization integration process of a personal and transpersonal psychosynthesis. This part is so needed by those who cut themselves off from their spiritual selves and so, too, by those who are spiritual and cut off from their human aspects.

Firman and Gila should be commended for writing another psychyosynthesis book and taking onto themselves much of the current responsibility for spreading psychosynthesis thought. However, Assagioli was a great thief, in his view, by incorporating in an integrated way many new aspects from the research of others into psychosynthesis. This book does not do this. However, with this said, the authors have made a splendid contribution of one model, or view, of psychosynthesis. In this respect, they have probably contributed more than Roberto Assagioli. They are clear and genuine writers and have conveyed something of value to the field.

DARYL S. PAULSON is President and CEO of BioScience Laboratories, Inc., in Bozeman, Montana, a biomedical product evaluation laboratory that evaluates antimicrobial products. He has advanced degrees in Human Science, Transpersonal Psychology, Counseling Psychology, and Business Administration. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam and was awarded the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry and the Navy commendation Medal with the Combat V. Some of Dr. Paulson’s books are Applied Statistical Designs for the Researcher; Competitive Business, Caring Business: An Integral Perspective for the 21st Century; and Walking the Point: Male Initiation and the Vietnam Experience.