Growing Whole: Self-Realization on an Endangered Planet

In "Growing Whole" Molly Brown does a good job of summarizing the key elements of psychosynthesis as developed by Roberto Assagioli. She explains the essentials and shows how one can apply it to various aspects of life immediately. This book is written in a simple, straightforward manner and has lots of useful exercises. Many of these exercises build on each other and they use the power of art to access the unconscious. However, you don't need to be an artist to benefit from the drawing exercises; they are more about exploring the psyche through non-verbal means. In my opinion, psychosynthesis is an underrated tool for personal growth. It is offers a very optimistic, practical and transpersonal model that makes sense. Roberto Assagioli was a psychiatrist and he was respected by Freud and Jung. However, he was very open-minded and integrative. Therefore, this area did not develop into a very formal school with clearly delineated boundaries. That's my only explanation for why it is not more popular. Psychosynthesis encourages being curious about your own process, working with sub-personalities which are conceptually very similar to Jungian complexes and using lots of visualization, active imagination and drawing techniques to get at one's depth. One of the more interesting aspects of psychosynthesis is the concept of having repressed areas of the superconscious or higher reaches of the psyche. I think Assagioli has a lot in common with Jung, but in some ways his typology of the psyche is easier to work with in a practical way. My guess is a lot of people who read this book will rate it a five and wonder why I rated it a four. My answer is that it could have contained more meat and some people might find that they want to know more after reading it. If you fall in that category of reader, I would try to get a copy of Psychosynthesis by Assagioli and branch out from there. Piero Ferrucci and John Firman are also respected authors that write about psychosynthesis.

In "Growing Whole", Molly Young Brown offers the reader her wisdom, experience and guidance, rooted in the traditions of psychosynthesis and the awakening concern for our planetary environment. This book is a practical, insightful and spiritual "mentor" for a person's journey toward Self-realization. This well written guide is filled with exercises which provide a productive and enlightened model for personal transformation and ultimately leads us to "bring our gifts into action in the world". I highly recommend reading and using this book along with the audio tape companion journal also by the author (Exploring the Wilderness Within)--effective resources for "those who yearn to make a difference".

This book provides both perspectives and methods for "growing whole" in a world full of crises and challenge. I appreciate the author's perspectives on how "work on oneself" helps contribute to the world; so often personal work and social action are seen as separate and even conflicting. The exercises found throughout are easy to do on one's own, or with others in a group. I also recommend the accompanying audiotape/journal called "Growing Whole: Exploring the Wilderness Within."