Robert assagioli biography

Roberto Assagioli 27 February — 23 August was an Italian psychiatrist and pioneer in the fields of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Assagioli founded the psychological movement known as psychosynthesis , which is still being developed today by therapists and psychologists who practice the psychological methods and techniques he developed.

His work, including two books and many monographs published as pamphlets, emphasized the possibility of progressive integration that is, synthesis of the personality. Assagioli was born on 27 February in Venice, Italy, from a middle-class, Jewish background. However, his biological father died when Assagioli was two years old, and his mother remarried to Alessandro Emanuele Assagioli soon afterward.

Assagioli was exposed to many creative outlets at a young age, such as art and music, which were believed to have inspired his work in Psychosynthesis. By the age of 18, he had learned eight different languages, including Italian his native tongue , English, French, Russian, Greek , Latin , German, and Sanskrit. It was at this age that he began to travel, mainly to Russia, where he learned about social systems and politics.

In , Assagioli was arrested and imprisoned by Benito Mussolini 's Fascist government , having been accused of "praying for peace and inviting others to join him along with other international crimes. His son died at the age of 28 from lung disease, which was accredited to severe stress from the harsh living conditions during the war. After the war ended, Assagioli returned to his work and began his legacy, known as Psychosynthesis.

The years after the war were relatively calm, and it was during this time that he founded various foundations dedicated to Psychosynthesis in Europe and North America. Assagioli lived a long and prosperous life with a happy forty-year marriage until he died at age 86 on 23 August The cause of his death was unknown.

Robert assagioli biography

Assagioli did not like to discuss his personal life, as he preferred to be remembered for his scientific work. Very few biographical accounts about the life of Assagioli are available, and most are not in English. Assagioli received his first degree in neurology and psychiatry at Istituto di Studii Superiori Pratici e di Perfezionamento, in Florence in During this time, he began writing articles criticizing psychoanalysis , arguing that he had a more holistic approach.

This led to him opening the first psychoanalytic practice in Italy, known as Istituto di Psicosintesi. However, his work in psychoanalysis left him unsatisfied with the field of psychiatry; as a whole, he felt that psychoanalysis was incomplete. Assagioli is famous for developing and founding psychosynthesis , a spiritual and holistic approach to psychology that had developed from psychoanalysis.

He was largely inspired by Freud's idea of the repressed mind and Jung's theories of the collective unconscious. Trained in psychoanalysis but unsatisfied by what he regarded as its incompleteness as a whole, Assagioli felt that love, wisdom, creativity, and will all were important components that should be included in psychoanalysis. He continued his work on Psychosynthesis right up until his death.

Assagioli said, "Psychosynthesis presupposes psychoanalysis, or rather, includes it as a first and necessary stage. However, Assagioli disagreed with theories formulated by Sigmund Freud that he considered limiting. He refused to accept Freud's reductionism and neglect of the positive dimensions of the personality. Psychosynthesis became the first approach born of psychoanalysis that also included the artistic, altruistic and heroic potentials of the human being.

Assagioli shared with Jung the insight that psychological symptoms can be triggered by spiritual dynamics. Assagioli considered Jung's theories to be closest to his understanding of psychosynthesis. Assagioli accredited much of his inspiration for psychosynthesis to his month-long incarceration in solitary confinement in He used his time in prison to exercise his mental will by meditating daily.

He concluded that he was able to change his punishment into an opportunity to investigate his inner-self. During his mature years, he authored a set of books which became the major statements of psychosynthesis. He died in Capaiona, Italy, on August 23, Assagioli, Roberto. The Act of Will. Parapsychological Faculties and Psychological Disturbances.

London: Medical Society for Study of Radiesthesia, Psychosynthesis: A Manual of Principles and Techniques. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 13, Retrieved January 13, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.

Science Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps Assagioli, Roberto Assagioli, Roberto gale. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Learn more about citation styles Citation styles Encyclopedia. More From encyclopedia. He found joy in his own Self and the Self he could see in everyone else. He elicited the joy of Self-realization in those who came to see him.

He found joy in the contemplation of beauty, of art, of ideas, of service; of science, of nature. It was the joy of this knowing that must have made the years of his waiting easy. This was a far-seeing joy, one that grew on his love of contemplating from his garden the vast and starry reaches of the Italian sky — the endless worlds, the living cosmic miracle of what is and what is becoming.

We can miss such a man, but it is hard to mourn you, Roberto, you with your face in the stars. AAP Home Return to top of page. Acceptable Use. This Site is intended to provide users with general information. We do not recommend or endorse any specific professionals, tests, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned on the Site.

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