What is Psychosynthesis Counselling and how can it help me?
The therapeutic relationship is more important than technique, in helping your soul express itself, although Tarik may draw upon yoga, meditation, herbs, diet, breathing techniques, drawing, writing and more to help clients reclaim themselves.
Tarik Dervish
4/1/20263 min read
Transpersonal systems like Psychosynthesis propose that we have a soul that is constantly seeking expression in our lives. It is the key to our happiness and ability to find meaning. When we can live authentically, that is, to pursue work, relationships and activities that give us a strong sense of purpose, our soul experiences a certain satisfaction, and we experience frequent moments of joy and wellbeing.
Most of us have had to suppress elements of our authentic personality to satisfy the needs of our caregivers. We bend to their will as children instinctively by suppressing emotions, needs and desires that are deemed unacceptable. By burying these feelings, over time, we forget who we really are. We lose touch with vital parts of ourselves and by the time we reach adulthood, we may have lost all sense of ourselves and just retain those parts of us that are acceptable to others.
This adapted self is what we call the survival personality. It is something we use and refer to throughout our lives but must learn to disidentify from as adults so that we can encourage those lost parts of ourselves to find their way back out and allow ourselves to be seen.
Psychosynthesis helps us reclaim these lost parts and feel whole again. By digging inwards, we not only reclaim those less acceptable parts that may have been buried under shame or guilt but also the lost potential of who we could become. We scupper our own potential with feelings of unworthiness and self-doubt that we may be learned as children.
It takes courage to confront those lost parts of ourselves because we are terrified of rejection. Rejection is life-threatening when we are children, but when we become independent adults, we learn to like and accept ourselves without fear.
This objective seems fair and reasonable to most people, but when it comes to actually doing the work, we experience deep resistance to change. This is because we are effectively seeking to break down some of our psychological defences and allow ourselves to feel vulnerable.
As children, we found ways of defending ourselves. This may have been in the form of shutting down, distracting ourselves, disassociating, lashing out in anger, avoiding intimacy, bullying and subjugating others and more. We do not automatically grow out of these behaviours. We must choose to put them aside when we realise that they are keeping us inside a self-created wall of defence. We need to be ready for this work. Sometimes we go into therapy with good intentions only to realise that we are not ready to do the work needed to let down our defences.
A good psychosynthesis therapist will approach the work from many different angles, which means our work together may include more than just talk therapy. I may draw upon yoga, meditation, herbs, diet, breathing techniques, drawing, writing and more to help clients reclaim themselves and rediscover their place and purpose in the world.
The heart of our work lies in the therapeutic relationship that we form together. This is essential in that the quality of the relationship is always more important than any techniques we might use. It takes time to build trust and to allow the therapeutic alliance to set.
Psychosynthesis has been around a long time. Roberto Assagioli, an Italian psychiatrist, was a contemporary of Jung and Freud but rejected their models in favour of a more eclectic system that was more focused on outcomes rather than techniques. He recognised that to experience wholeness, we need build bridges between our body, mind, emotions and our soul. This is why the psychosynthesis process may be a collaborative effort of many techniques include working on releasing physical and well as emotional blockages that may be getting in the way of a fuller life experience.
Is Psychosynthesis counselling with Tarik right for you?
Are you feeling lost and disconnected from life? Perhaps you have reached a point where everything you have done or achieved has lost meaning for you, and you don’t know why. I may be able to help you unlock the missing pieces and identify any unfulfilled needs.
Are you looking for a therapy that values the body, mind and feelings equally and wants to work with someone who is trained and experienced to help you integrate all three?
Do you have a need to be really seen and heard and unconditionally supported by someone mature and non-judgemental?
Are you willing to try a variety of techniques that may help you experience yourself more fully?
Does the psychosynthesis vision excite you? Perhaps you are being called to do this kind of work.
Tarik Dervish