Conceived by Italian psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli, psychosynthesis is one of the first Western psychologies that addresses both spiritual development and psychological healing and growth by recognizing and supporting the particular life journey of the person—the individual's own unique path of Self-realization. Firman and Gila present a comprehensive account of psychosynthesis, providing a transpersonal integration of developmental, personality, and clinical theory. They reveal some of the relationships between psychosynthesis and contemporary developmental research, object relations theory, intersubjective psychology, trauma theory, the recovery movement, Jungian psychology, humanistic and transpersonal psychology, and common psychological diagnoses. Case examples and practical theory designed to support both the layperson and the professional seeking to understand and facilitate psychospiritual growth are included.
Argues that a primal wounding of the human spirit occurs in earliest human life that disrupts fundamental relationships and leads to anxiety, loneliness, and alienation; and shows how this wounding can be redeemed through therapy and through living one's life differently. To many of us, modern life is a headlong rush to avoid dark feelings that threaten to disrupt our lives at every turn. In order to block the surging tide of this hidden level of experience, we become enthralled with violence, sex, and mass media and addicted to alcohol, drugs, and power, and we compulsively strive for romance, success, and control. All of this, according to the authors, can be traced to the primal wound--a dark specter of isolation, abandonment, and alienation haunting human life. The primal wound is the result of a violation we all suffer in various ways, beginning in early childhood and continuing throughout life. Because we are treated not as individual, unique human beings but as objects, our intrinsic, authentic sense of self is annihilated. This primal wounding breaks the fundamental relationships that form the fabric of human existence: the relationship to oneself, to other people, to the natural world, and to a sense of transpersonal meaning symbolized in concepts such as the Divine, the Ground of Being, and Ultimate Reality. In this book, Firman and Gila apply object relations theory, self-psychology, transpersonal psychology, and psychosynthesis to the issues of psychological wounding, healing, and growth and show how this wounding can be redeemed through therapy and through changing one's way of living. "Firman and Gila integrate important material from diverse schools of psychology and then expand it with their personal touch. The Primal Wound presents a scholarly--yet understandable to the educated lay person--description of some of the important dynamics of psychological wounding from a broad perspective, while also going deep into the soul and even exploring our relationship to God. There is little available on this topic and in the area of trauma psychology." -- Charles Whitfield, M.D., author of Memory and Abuse: Remembering and Healing the Wounds of Trauma "I believe this book's central thesis to be highly provocative and important. Its strength is that it uses the idea of the 'primal wound' as a focus for a diverse collection of ideas from various sectors of the psychological and transpersonal literature. This kind of integrative scholarly work is very valuable. " -- John Suler, author of Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Eastern Thought John Firman and Ann Gila are teachers, authors, and psychotherapists in private practice in Palo Alto, California. Both were trained in psychosynthesis in the early 1970s, and Firman trained with its founder, Roberto Assagioli. They are adjunct faculty members at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and lead public and professional programs both in the United States and abroad.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
The books in this series present a summary of how scholars have interpreted the Greek and Hebrew text. Helpful for students and translators with beginning to advanced exegetical skills.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.