One of my favorite ways to work with clients when ‘following the mystery’ is called guided imagery, or psychosynthesis.
Psychosynthesis utilizes meditative techniques to focus on increasing awareness and understanding of bodily sensations, breath, feelings and thoughts, or to evoke and engage images from the unconscious. Imagery has been called ‘the language of the soul’ and can be used to facilitate healing, for relaxation purposes, in order to gain insight, as well as for mental preparation. Guided imagery exercises can also be used to integrate sub-personalities, to cultivate self acceptance, develop positive characterological qualities, set goals, or access the inner wisdom of one’s highest Self.
Psychosynthesis is something that I have personal experience with, and have found it to be transformative in terms of removing obstacles, neutralizing inner conflicts, and in my own personal growth.
The purpose of using imagery or visualization in psychotherapy is to gain insight into unconscious or split-off parts of the personality. Using this creative function can provide what Carl Jung called a ‘dynamic equilibrium’ and unite the unconscious and conscious into a more holistic, balanced state.
Roberto Assagioli, and Italian psychiatrist and contemporary of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, created Psychosynthesis as a psychotherapeutic technique which supports the ideal of self-actualization by integrating disparate components of the psyche.