REVIEW OF THE BOOK Published in Polish language by IMPULS, 2009 The increasing social pathologies, manifested with aggressive behavior on the streets and in the schools, as well as the growing number of suicides among children and teenagers, forces the adults to take a closer look at the causes of such process and to start from the beginning – the quality of upbringing and early school education, which influence the behavior, self-image, worldview and the creation of healthy personality in a child/young human being. Being adults (parents or teachers), we are sometimes not aware of the fact that disorders in balanced child development may be caused by ignorant upbringing and interference in a child’s natural development. This causes gigantic and unpredictable effects, not only individual (health and life), but also social and global – influencing the family, the society and the world. A teacher or a parent deals with a living, very impressionable, organism and interferes in another person’s identity and dignity. Thus, the future of each individual and the entire world depends on their influences. A condition which must be met in order for adult influence to be positive is the awareness of its effect on the future life and health of each child, or young human being, as well as assuring such quality of education/upbringing as soon as possible, so that no therapy is needed in the near future. We adults, however, are already aware that the current education, including upbringing, requires a reversal of the deteriorated environment (vide ecological damages and their consequences, resulting in the need to repair the world, which is discussed on the international level during the so-called Earth Summit conferences), as well as the regeneration of what was “ingrained” in our minds and children’s minds by ignorance (violent, aggressive models shown in detail on TV). A wide range of surfacing individual pathologies – physical (in the form of psychosomatic and so-called civilization diseases), mental and social (including alcoholism, drug addiction, violence, various other addictions – to cigarettes, medicines, food, shopping, as well as environmental pollution), reveal an individual’s instability, which is a consequence of improper upbringing and education. This situation demands an approach to upbringing which is not only educational, but also therapeutic.

1. Ewa Białek
BALANCED CHILD DEVELOPMENT.
The application of psychosynthesis in upbringing, prevention and therapy
SUMMARY
The increasing social pathologies, manifested with aggressive behavior on the
streets and in the schools, as well as the growing number of suicides among children
and teenagers, forces the adults to take a closer look at the causes of such process and
to start from the beginning – the quality of upbringing and early school education,
which influence the behavior, self-image, worldview and the creation of healthy
personality in a child/young human being.
Being adults (parents or teachers), we are sometimes not aware of the fact that
disorders in balanced child development may be caused by ignorant upbringing and
interference in a child’s natural development. This causes gigantic and unpredictable
effects, not only individual (health and life), but also social and global – influencing
the family, the society and the world. A teacher or a parent deals with a living, very
impressionable, organism and interferes in another person’s identity and dignity. Thus,
the future of each individual and the entire world depends on their influences. A
condition which must be met in order for adult influence to be positive is the
awareness of its effect on the future life and health of each child, or young human
being, as well as assuring such quality of education/upbringing as soon as possible, so
that no therapy is needed in the near future.
We adults, however, are already aware that the current education, including
upbringing, requires a reversal of the deteriorated environment (vide ecological
damages and their consequences, resulting in the need to repair the world, which is
discussed on the international level during the so-called Earth Summit conferences), as
well as the regeneration of what was “ingrained” in our minds and children’s minds by
ignorance (violent, aggressive models shown in detail on TV). A wide range of
surfacing individual pathologies – physical (in the form of psychosomatic and so-
called civilization diseases), mental and social (including alcoholism, drug addiction,
violence, various other addictions – to cigarettes, medicines, food, shopping, as well as
environmental pollution), reveal an individual’s instability, which is a consequence of
improper upbringing and education. This situation demands an approach to upbringing
which is not only educational, but also therapeutic.
The current political and economic reality and the related globalization
processes all over the world require a perspective on education which takes into
account the global picture of the world and the human being. Similarly, scientific
discoveries from various fields and the substantiation of the holistic approach to the
human being and the world require a change of the entire educational system – which
has to include the whole upbringing process, starting with preschool education and the
entire school system, all the way to training teachers at universities. Moreover, the
system has to also embrace the progress of modern knowledge in various fields of
science, especially medicine, psychology, ecology and pedagogy, which set new areas
of interdisciplinary activity, including the spiritual aspect of education. This issues an
urgent challenge to the university personnel. The task is to prepare such a program of
teacher training which, above all, will support the teacher and the student (the child) as
a person – support their “humanum” sphere, and lead to full personal development,

2. supporting the development of all spheres of personality (physical, emotional and
intellectual, as well as the will and the spirit).
This program should also support the teacher’s self-revision, motivation to work
in this profession and satisfaction from it, authority and prestige among the students,
as well as charisma, which attracts the students and reinforces their positive traits. It
should also prepare the teacher to promote and express through themselves a universal
system of values, to educate in order to achieve balanced development, health, peace,
morality and ethics.
Nowadays, the teacher works in an environment, which is often pathological
and, at the same time, unwittingly creates it (by distancing themselves from the
student’s personal problems and adverse situations occurring in their environment).
Meanwhile, the teacher is not equipped with tools to work in such situations or with
self-defense mechanisms. They also cannot defend other “still healthy” students from
“succumbing” to pathology. An attitude which involves loosing one’s nerve is not a
good example of authority – it results in an ineffective transfer of knowledge.
Thus, there is an urgent need to prepare not only the essence of pedagogical
theory, based on a new, holistic, humanistic and spiritual paradigm and perception of
the human being and the world, but also on preparing new methodologies, especially
related to upbringing and teaching.
Upbringing and education are the most vital personal experiences in everyone’s
life. Both processes lead to self-discovery, they prepare one to adult life, dealing with
everyday problems, discovering one’s talents and revealing them to the world,
building proper relations with others, respecting the environment one lives in and
saving it for future generations. They are fundamental to school education and they are
verified by social functioning of a person within a community. The family and the
school are the source, while the society and the world are the reflection, or a mirror, of
proper or wrong policy and strategy of upbringing and educating an individual child
(human being).
In this context, upbringing and education become the responsibility of a single
teacher and the entire teacher community, as well as “the teachers’ teachers”
(university researchers), which is also responsibility for the state of the world. And it
is at school in particular, that the fundamental Hippocrates rule should apply – a rule
that has so far been used only in medicine – “primum non nocere – first of all, do not
harm,” as harm can be done, in fact, to all individuals around the world. Since
relations are the key, every single action influences the entire “web of life,” including
biological, physical, psychological, social and cultural relations in phenomenon of life.
The development of a child, in order to be complete and balanced, must concern
every aspect of its personality, from supporting the body, senses, feelings, mind,
imagination and will to the spiritual sphere. The entire process of upbringing,
according to modern science, is “somatic” – it influences the psyche, and as a
consequence, the body (which is the main “receiver” of verbal information and a place
where reaction to this information takes place), as well as mental health and other
body functions which enable it to be in the world (feelings, imagination, intellect,
intuition and will) and form relations with others and the world. It also supports the
complete personal fulfillment in the world, aiming at the self-revision of the entire
person. Thus, it is related to the humanization of the upbringing process (what is
called the subjectivity of a child), addition of the spiritual aspect, as well as parent
education (creating a system preparing for “aware parenthood” – i.e. supporting the
child’s personal and spiritual development from the youngest age to maturity). As a
result, the child, already at home, will see that it is understood, as is its own life

3. program, while the parents will understand better the reason behind their actions
during the upbringing process, which is the support of natural (contained within)
biological plan (as if it was a plant seed) and requires the creation of psychological
atmosphere aimed at proper, healthy child development to its fullest potential. Thanks
to the above, the child, step-by-step, will find a base for harmonious growth, first
within the family and then at school, which will help it discover its own place in the
society and the world in the future. The child, starting from the young age, will also be
motivated, internally and externally, to discover its talents, learning to respond to
conflicts within itself and with others, as well as build healthy relations. The child will
also be able to turn its future work into its life’s passion, which at the same time would
be the need to contribute to others’ lives. Moreover, this demands that the upbringing
process focus on the person – its quality, complete development and fulfillment in life.
Balanced development means aware support of the entire body’s growth and
securing all of its natural, physiological needs, from the biophysical and psycho-
spiritual perspective. It means education for the future – to prevent future treatment of
effects, when it is too late.
A modern human being needs a new, spiritual perspective, because the previous,
one-dimensional (perceived only as a set of organs, systems and behaviors) human
being is an incomplete, not fully realized, vision. Such reductionistic approach
presents a great risk of moral abuse.
Balanced development is related to harmonious cooperation of the entire human
body. Thus, it requires awakening of what is asleep and adjusting of what is unbridled.
All these activities resemble the work of a gardener, who keeps a perfect model of a
certain plant in their mind and helps the plant to bring out its true beauty by creating
appropriate conditions for it to grow and blossom.
Thus, the holistic education is now a task, and at the same time, a challenge for
the school. This challenge must be met by preparing the teachers (the tutors), as well
as upbringing and educating the children.
If we want to discover ourselves, our spiritual part and the spiritual dimension of
the world, the primary imperative is to turn towards those psychological theories
which include this aspect of human life in all fields related to human activities,
especially pedagogy. An example of such theory, which at the same time is practice, is
psychosynthesis, created by an Italian psychiatrist and neurologist, Dr. Roberto
Assagioli (1888-1974).
Psychosynthesis is a positive concept of the human being during the dynamic
process of their development in the evolving universe. It aims at facilitating this
process by making it more lively and balanced through aware cooperation with the
laws and forces of nature, which are present in the human being. Above all, it focuses
on the upbringing/education of each individual, according to its fundamental rule:
“when it’s on time – it’s education; when it’s late – it’s therapy,” but it also helps in
therapy (when such needs arises, and then in the re-education), in the etymological
meaning of the word “educare” (Latin): “searching within” and bringing it out, as well
as “going towards” fuller development.
The word “synthesis” derives from Greek and means “putting everything
together.” Synthesis is a combination of various parts, which creates a cohesive whole.
In theory, psychosynthesis combines psychology with philosophical and religious
approach, although it remains neutral. A result of such synthesis is a comprehensive
theory of human nature and, at the same time, a wide range of techniques, which can
be applied in various fields of consultancy related to the human being, and which is,
above all, extremely vital in upbringing and education.

4. The keynote of this psychosynthesis-based book is the support of balanced
development of a child (a human being). It is education for the future – to prevent
future treatment of effects, when it is too late and, at the same time, making one’s own
psychosynthesis an everyday process of individual organization and integration. I
referred to some elements of developmental psychology, described in various studies
and appearing in literature over the years, in order to use them as a basis for presenting
the scope of influence the psychosynthesis methods have on child development during
its various periods (its various functions and behaviors).
The book presents the theory of human development based on the
psychosynthetic approach, which leads to their “blossoming,” – it attempts to
understand the nature of the human being from within themselves, their meaning of
existence, their predispositions, as well as their possibilities of becoming known to the
world, thanks to proper influence of upbringing at home and at school, which means
the educational reason behind actions taken.
In the case of psychosynthesis, the tutor, regardless of whether it is the parent or
the teacher, becomes a guide who is to lead the child towards such development of its
personality, which will allow it to lead personal life in a happy, positive and
satisfactory way, build healthy relations with others, awaken its potentials, as well as
to help the child perfect them (itself). Through their own psychosynthesis, the tutor is
to show the child the path of self-education, stimulate its creativity and find motivation
within the child to utilize its predispositions and talents in life and for others. Their
aim is to prepare the child to self-realization in the world – to blossoming.
This book is a pioneer work in a field which has so far been extremely neglected
when it comes to school education – that is, upbringing, which is particularly
important from the social point of view for humanitarian reasons, influencing each
human being, the entire society and the world. It is the first attempt at integrated
approach to upbringing – holistic support of health and harmonious development. It
presents an inventive approach, as it combines the newest achievements in the fields of
theory related to child development, and an original approach, as it uses
psychosynthesis and medical knowledge of the Author to take a look at the
development from holistic perspective – a look at both health and illness (pathology),
the former understood as physical, mental and social health during all stages of
personal development. It is, thus, a synthesis of knowledge and life, a theoretical and
practical approach, supported by numerous publications from the last ten years, which
introduce the principles of psychosynthesis and include “self manuals” – “guides to
self-education,” an education called for by professors W. Pasterniak and A. Szyszko-
Bohusz. It presents the relation between theoretical solutions with specific educational
practice, verified and included in particular methods, described in various publications
of psychosynthesists. It refers to a variety of literature works published by me within
the last nearly 10 years, describing the theory and practice of psychosynthesis and
aimed at tutors/teachers – lesson plans for pre-school and school teachers, as well as
academic staff.
This book is my contribution to such upbringing which prevents the need of
therapy in the future.

5. CONTENTS
1. Foreword
2. Upbringing: what it is and what is can be
3. The idea of upbringing: balanced development and health
4. Understanding the child’s true nature
5. Introduction to psychosynthesis
6. The laws of psychodynamics – psycho-energy laws
7. Basic concepts of upbringing / education based on psychosynthesis
8. The complexity of personality
9. The approach of psychosynthesis to sub-personality
10. The holistic theory of human development
11. Upbringing the able and the ablest children
12. Psychosynthesic approach to child development
13. Upbringing which supports a child’s balanced development
14. The role of tutor in supporting a child’s balanced development
15. Methods and techniques helpful in psychosynthesis-based upbringing
16. The role of tutor – personal fulfillment
17. Afterword
18. Bibliography
19. Summary
20. Contents
21. SUPPLEMENTS:
Continuing education cycles for teachers
The program of healthy upbringing in the family, the school and the world
Further reading