Roberto Assagioli

Roberto Assagioli was born on the 27th February 1888, in Venice, Italy. He died on the 23rd August 1974 in Capolona d'Arezzo, Italy. He was the founder of Psychosynthesis and involved in the development of both the Humanistic and Transpersonal fields of Psychology. He was a student of Sigmund Freud, and one of the earlier pioneers of psychoanalysis. However, seeing limitations within psychoanalytic theory he went on to develop Psychosynthesis, which went beyond psychoanalysis and psychotherapy and offered a new way of approaching both therapy and self-growth in a comprehensive, dynamic system of holistic psychology.

In an interview with Sam Keen in Psychology Today (December 1974), Roberto Assagioli described the differences between psychoanalysis and Psychosynthesis:

"We pay far more attention to the higher unconscious and to the development of the transpersonal self. In one of his letters Freud said, 'I am interested only in the basement of the human being.' Psychosynthesis is interested in the whole building. We try to build an elevator which will allow a person access to every level of his personality. After all, a building with only a basement is very limited. We want to open up the terrace where you can sunbathe or look at the stars."

Roberto Assagioli explored Eastern and Western mystical traditions, as well as mainstream psychiatry and psychology. He had contact with many diverse thinkers including Russian esotericist P. D. Ouspensky, Sufi mystic Inhayat Khan, Zen scholar D. T. Suzuki, and eminent psychologists such as Viktor Frankl, the founder of Logotherapy, Robert Desoille, creator of the guided daydream, and Carl Jung.

Assagioli founded the The Psychosynthesis Institute (Instituto di Psicosintesi) in Italy, which continues to this day. He proposed the Will Project as a program to research the human will, and was the author of several books, including Psychosynthesis: A Collection of Basic Writings, The Act of Will: A Guide to Self-Actualisation and Self-Realisation, and Transpersonal Development: The Dimension Beyond Psychosynthesis.

Additional biographic information on Roberto Assagioli

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