Opening the Door to Creativity: A Psychosynthesis Approach

Abstract

Given the great importance of creativity in society, and in health psychology in particular, investigating how creativity can be enhanced is a valuable area of research. Interventions that enable individuals to become more creative vary in their focus from increasing divergent thinking to task reactivation during sleep. This article introduces psychosynthesis psychology as an additional theoretical and therapeutic approach for enhancing creativity through its concept that creativity originates from different levels of the unconscious. We show that the subpersonality model, one of the fundamental psychosynthesis techniques, is an effective intervention for aiding creative expression as it helps people connect to different levels of their unconscious creativity. It is assumed that through the use of this technique, clients are able to release and unblock energies that not only allow them to rebuild their personal identities but also become actively creative in their daily lives. We support this assumption with qualitative findings that include testimonies from eleven clients in The Netherlands who received psychosynthesis counseling. In addition, qualitative data of a case study demonstrates subpersonality integration and its role in helping clients to become more creative in their personal and professional lives. The present article is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to demonstrate the beneficial effects of using psychosynthesis to facilitate creativity. The framework of psychosynthesis psychology, its techniques (which include the subpersonality model), and its therapeutic approach are viable methodologies for anyone searching to unblock and activate new creative energy and achieve personal and professional growth.