Allan Frater is a lecturer at the Psychosynthesis Trust in London and author of Waking Dreams (Transpersonal Press, 2021). THE ACT OF IMAGINATION Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy in Experiential Context (Transpersonal Press, 2026), is his latest book release. Allan’s book was an excellent read by offering a coherent commentary on what psychosynthesis theory and practical tools might look like in the consulting room. The link to a podcast with the author about his latest book is attached below:
I trained originally at the Counselling Centre for Psychotherapy Education (CCPE) in West London, which has many similarities to psychosynthesis. For starters, both are deemed to be transpersonal, or another way of saying that is that both commit to psycho-spiritual development theories. Both could be seen to be integrative in theoretical orientation and both see the person holistically. What comes first with both is not the technique but the “living reality” of the “immediate situation”. A psychosynthesis therapist, for instance, may actively and very purposefully work, with guided imagery, meditation, disidentification exercises, symbolic or imaginative work and developmental stages of consciousness.
Whilst both models are holistic, the CCPE approach could arguably be seen to be more explicitly integrative (in terms of theory) whereas psychosynthesis has a relatively clear and organised theoretical framework, largely based on the writings of its founder, Roberto Assagioli. So, perhaps CCPE therapists are trained to move more flexibly between approaches, depending on the needs of the person in the consulting room. That said, Assagioli himself, however, had been at pains in his writings to state that there should be no orthodoxy in psychosynthesis, and that no one, beginning with himself, should claim to be its real or true representative, its head or leader.
Psychosynthesis can add a clearly defined developmental path toward self-realisation and transformation with guidance from the Egg diagram tool, a view on higher unconscious/superconscious, embracing core concepts, the ideal model and the various stages of the creative process. This can be very useful in its clarity. The CCPE model, on the other hand, may see trainees develop spiritually, while others may work in a more existential-relational or even in a more psychodynamic way. Compared to psychosynthesis, which has its own map of the psyche, the CCPE model seems to me to be more pluralistic and potentially more clinically integrative as the psyche is not necessarily assumed to unfold toward a single higher synthesis. In defence, a psychosynthesis practitioner would say that they are encouraged to discover their own unique meaning, purpose and values.
Allan outlined many useful exercises and tools in the book. I was particularly drawn to the creative imagination open scripts, and the suggestion to not necessarily ask someone to imagine a meadow or a beach, for example, but to keep the emphasis on the naturally unfolding imaginative process that they are experiencing. It is not even a requirement to have eyes closed. Assagioli called this “autochthonous” imagery, which is constantly bubbling away at the edges of awareness.
In summary, I thought the book offered a useful glimpse on how psychosynthesis could bring a fruitful synthesis of different parts of the psyche that might help an integrative therapist to broaden their ideas of multiplicity and personification. Readers might like the language of parts, as well as subpersonalities, and therapy from a psychosynthesis lens could nicely synthesise rather than eliminate these parts. This emphasis might nicely complement the ideas of using Internal Family Systems (IFS) as an adjunct to their integrative ways of working, by helping to facilitate a dialogue between troubling internal parts.
Noel Bell is a UKCP accredited psychotherapist and can be contacted on 07852407140
