Chapter One: Jon and Lyn
Assagioli’s Seven Core Concepts and the Life of the Couple: In this first chapter, Jon presents a clear and accessible introduction to Psychosynthesis. Through poignant and sometimes humorous anecdotes from his marriage, he shows us how working with the seven core principles has helped him and his wife, Lyn, become more self-aware and more conscious, loving life partners.
Jon Schottland, MA, BCC Bio:
Jon Schottland, MA, has worked for twenty years as a psychosynthesis trainer, therapist, educator and mentor. He studied at the Concord Institute and later served as president and senior trainer at The Synthesis Center for many years. He has also been an adjunct faculty member and guest lecturer in transpersonal psychology at Sofia University and American International College. He is the founder of Synthesis Northeast and currently teaches in the psychosynthesis and leadership development program at the Psychospiritual Institute in Delray Beach, FL. Jon has dedicated his life and work to personal and group development, including the human potential to experience healing, love, beauty, fulfillment, harmony and belonging. He currently works, writes, hikes and plays tennis in Brattleboro, VT, where he lives with his wife Lyn and their two sweet dogs.
Lyn Sperry, MFA Bio:
Lyn Sperry, MFA is a professional coach certified through the International Coach Federation who loves to provide support for neurodiverse adults and college students. She supports them in tapping into their creative and organizational potential to achieve meaningful goals. She has 28 years of experience coaching and teaching writing to students with ADHD as an associate professor at Landmark College, a college for neurodiverse students. Lyn has presented to college faculty and academic advisors nationally and internationally about using coaching techniques to improve student outcomes in the classroom. Currently she coaches adults and college students in her private business. Lyn loves the woods of Vermont and spends time playing tennis, hiking, and enjoying poetry and travel. She lives with her husband Jon and their two dogs.
Chapter Two: Stephen and Janet
A Marriage of Strong-Willed Partners: Janet’s compelling story of her long relationship with her husband, Stephen, shows how two headstrong, spiritually-oriented individuals worked together to build a vibrant and sustaining marriage and family life. She writes candidly about the difficulties she and her husband have faced over the years, including Stephen’s recurring bouts with cancer and their unexpected cross-country move.
Janet R. Messer, PhD Bio:
Janet R. Messer, PhD, is a licensed psychologist who has maintained a private practice doing transpersonal/humanistic psychotherapy with clients for more than 40 years. She taught Psychosynthesis to laypeople and professionals in Eugene, OR for many years. She also served on the faculty of the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, AZ, where she taught student doctors about mind-body medicine and supervised psychology interns. Janet provided leadership on the Steering Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis for six years, two of them as co-chair of the organization. She presents at conferences locally and nationally, about topics related to psychotherapy and spirituality, particularly about Psychosynthesis. Janet loves to dance, act in plays, cook and eat, hold babies, and be outdoors. She lives with her husband, Stephen, in Chandler, AZ, close to her adult sons.
Stephen Messer, ND Bio:
Stephen Messer, ND, holds a master’s degree in science education from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine. He is a founder and past president of the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians. He served on the board of directors of the National Center for Homeopathy, and as the Dean of the Center’s prestigious Summer School. In 2000, after 21 years of practice in Oregon, he relocated with Janet to Arizona and the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine, as Professor and Chair of Homeopathic Medicine. He has received numerous awards, but he considers his greatest accomplishment the large number of ND graduates whom he has had the privilege to train, both in the classroom and in the clinic, who are now among the vanguard of physicians bringing about a resurgence of excellent homeopathic practice in North America.
Chapter Three: Walter and Cynthia
Three Candles: Strategies for a Marriage: Here we meet Walter, a white man in his 80s, and Cynthia, an African-American woman in her mid-60s who have been going strong together for over 38 years. The evocative image of “the three candles,” which grew out of a conversation Walter had with his mother, reflects their perspective on committed relationships. In this chapter, they describe how their ongoing work with Psychosynthesis has helped them to maintain their individuality within the context of their thriving partnership.
Walter Polt, MA Bio:
Walter Polt, MA (Columbia University), co-created Intermountain Associates for Psychosynthesis and its training programs. His long experience in individual and group counseling and coaching has taken place in a variety of settings, including hospital, community mental health, and private practice. His numerous professional articles and newly revised book, The Anger Makeover, clear up confusion about conflicts, especially in relationships. While the book teaches skills, his coaching and online course called “The Plus Side of Anger” grow those skills into habits. They boost the new knowledge into mastery, replacing ground-in, primeval neural grooves with purposeful brain pathways. This work has increased his boundless joy and gratitude in life and especially his marriage.
Cynthia Lashley, PhD Bio:
Cynthia Lashley has a PhD from Loyola University and Erikson Institute in Chicago, an MS from Wheelock College, Boston, and a BS in Special Education from Southern Connecticut State University. She has used mindfulness and key constructs from Psychosynthesis personally and professionally with children and an array of practitioners. They include student teachers, administrators, caregivers, teachers, and community groups that work with young children and families. Recently retired, she has presented around the United States and at international conferences. She has authored and co-authored several articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Chapter Four: Diane and Jeff
Growing Together: Reflections on Our Marriage as a Psycho-Spiritual Path: In this soulful reflection on their 44-year relationship, Diane and Jeff each write about the joys of falling in love and starting a life together as well as the struggles they faced as a young couple, including personality conflicts, gender inequality and infertility. Five years into their marriage, their “chance” encounter with Psychosynthesis introduced them to what would become the formative framework and guiding light of their personal healing and spiritual development, the deepening of their marriage, and their professional work.
Jeffrey Rossman, PhD Bio:
Jeffrey Rossman, PhD, is a psychologist in private practice, providing psychotherapy to individuals, couples and families and consultation to business-owning families. For many years he was the Director of Behavioral Health and Life Management at Canyon Ranch, a world-leading health resort, and a consultant to executives and business-owning families at the Harvard Business School. Jeff earned a PhD at Adelphi University and completed a clinical internship in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. He also completed a five-year training program in Spiritual Psychology at the Concord Institute, where he became grounded in the psychospiritual principles and practices that inform his work. Jeff is the author of The Mind-Body Mood Solution (Rodale Press, 2010) and numerous articles in professional journals and the popular press. He enjoys practicing Qi Gong and meditation, playing basketball with friends, and hiking with his wife and their adult children.
Diane B. Rossman, MA, MFA Bio:
Diane B. Rossman, MA, MFA, has maintained a private practice of Spiritual Psychology for over 35 years. She has co-facilitated training experiences in soul-work, led grief groups, and worked with children, teens and adults in exploring the beauty and power of words through reading and writing poetry. She is a published poet and an enthusiastic student of the harp. Diane and Jeff live in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, not far from their
adult children.
Chapter Five: Chris and Judith
Saying Yes! Two Women, A Love Story: This is the captivating love story of two women who met in midlife, and who after two years of friendship, developed whilst working together, fell deeply in love. Their resounding Yes! to each other infuses their 30-year commitment to their personal healing, growth and their ability to navigate the challenges of being a cross-cultural, same-sex couple. This effervescent spirit also informs their approach to dealing with their blended family and the aging process.
Chris Dennler Bio:
Chris Dennler was born 1957 in Switzerland. Her first profession was as a psychiatric nurse. After some years working in the emergency department and in a women’s prison, she became a teacher of psychiatric nursing. She trained in Psychosynthesis in Switzerland between 1987 and 1991. In 1992 she worked as a Psychosynthesis therapist, trainer and supervisor in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. She had further education in intuitive massage, polarity and psychodrama. In 1997, she founded the Center of Psychosynthesis in Bern with her wife, Judith Firman. After their marriage in 2006, she moved to England. In 2011, they closed the Center in Bern and she built up her private practice in England, where she worked one-to-one online with an international clientele. She retired in February 2022.
Judith Firman Bio:
Judith Firman is British, born in 1947. She trained in Psychosynthesis in San Francisco between 1976 and 1979. After leaving the USA she became co-director of The Psychosynthesis and Education Trust in London (1981–1996.) She also taught in various Psychosynthesis centers in Europe (Austria, Holland, Germany, and Switzerland). Alongside this, she had a private practice as a Psychosynthesis psychotherapist and supervisor. In 1997 along with her wife, Chris Dennler, she founded the Center for Psychosynthesis, Bern (Switzerland). She became a business coach in 2000 and, over the last 22 years, she has worked in both private and public companies at director and board level. She also trained and supervised business coaches. Most recently, she has worked with numerous clinicians implementing the use of a coaching style with patients the UK National Health Service. All her work is informed by Psychosynthesis. She now works reduced hours.
Chapter Six: Ahmed and Shamai
Love and Loss: Shamai’s chapter describes an intense soul love, a journey of differences, and a deepening understanding of death and loss. She writes sensitively about the path of caregiving, walked with love, joy and a growing awareness of self.
Shamai Currim, PhD Bio:
Shamai Currim, PhD, is a retired psychotherapist, educator, and educational consultant and has done volunteer work in hospice/palliative and home-care services, prisons, and seniors’ residences. She is a graduate of Psychosynthesis Pathways of Montreal and has served for many years, in many varied positions, on the Steering Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis, the BOD of the International Organization of the Helen Prize for Women, the BOD of the Association of Early Childhood Educators, and as the Executive Director of Eduporta International Education Agency. She was a chosen attendee at the Leadership Training Course at the Canadian Jewish Congress and the first recipient of the Ross-Seaman Memorial Leadership Award at Concordia University. Now in her senior years, Shamai has immersed herself in the arts and is a director and professional member of her local art association. She has presented at numerous conferences, has been published in many peer review journals, and is the author of “Meaghan’s Story”. Shamai currently divides her time between Canada and Israel with her new husband.
Ahmed Nooruddin Currim, MD, PhD Bio:
Ahmed Nooruddin Currim, MD, PhD, (1940-2017) was born in Bombay, India and traveled to Switzerland for his secondary education. He studied engineering mathematics and chemical engineering at the University of Michigan, received an M.A. in physics from Harvard University, and a doctorate in mathematics from the University of Colorado. He completed his medical degree at the University of Brussels and received his license to practice family and internal medicine as well as passing the exam for the Connecticut State Homeopathic Medical Board, where he later served as the chairman for many years. He taught seminars in Materia Medica, homeopathic philosophy, and repertory to many groups of medical practitioners, including physicians, nurses, and naturopaths, and presented at international conferences. As a soulful person, Ahmed made himself always available for his patients and friends. His published books include The Collected Works of Arthur Hill Grimmer and Guide to Kent’s Repertory.
Chapter Seven: Vincent and Judith
Navigating Relationships: This chapter tells the story of this couple’s relationship, begun with an intentional focus on forming bonds of trust,
after both had left previous relationships with broken trust. Judith and Vincent narrate their story together, covering the arc from their early relationship to full maturity. They reference concepts from attachment theory and treatment and offer insight and guidance from their lived experience, as they each grow individually, while gradually opening to deeper levels of emotional closeness.
Judith Broadus, PhD Bio:
Judith Broadus, PhD, is the mother of three grown children, and recently and joyfully welcomed her first grandchild. Judith has a doctorate in psychology, with a major focus on counseling and women’s issues. She completed five years of training with the Kentucky Center of Psychosynthesis in the 1980s, later serving as a co-trainer in mindfulness-based professional Psychosynthesis training. She developed a strong interest in meditation after an introduction to meditation in Psychosynthesis and continued training in meditation with Transcendental Meditation and Shambhala Buddhism. She wrote an article on Psychosynthesis and Buddhism (2008), exploring similarities, differences and inseparabilities between the two systems. She has chosen to focus on self-care as her “growing edge.” Judith is currently semi-retired and continues to study the interface of meditation, developmental psychology, health behaviors and psychotherapy. Her intention is to ground the knowledge in her body through practice, centered in her heart.
Vincent Dummer, PsyD Bio:
Vincent Dummer, PsyD, is a native of the Netherlands and has been a licensed psychologist in private practice in Lexington, KY, since 1983. Currently, a large part of his practice consists of assisting highly creative and gifted individuals with emotional and interpersonal difficulties, utilizing insights from attachment literature. He has served as a part-time staff psychologist at a state psychiatric hospital and was a co-director and supervisor of an A.P.A.-approved doctoral internship program. He completed his Psychosynthesis training from the London Institute of
Psychosynthesis in 1983, and served as a trainer and director of the Kentucky Center of Psychosynthesis from 1983-1988. With Judith Broadus, he conducted a three-year professional training in mindfulness-based Psychosynthesis and produced a video interview series, “Psychosynthesis Portraits.” His research interests
have been in psychological growth in adulthood. He has been a practitioner of meditation and Buddhism since 1992. His website is vincentdummer.com
Chapter Eight: Ed and Ilene
Our Marriage: Enriched by Awareness and Will: Ilene’s chapter looks at the stages of relationship through the familiar analogy of the 24-hour day: dawn, daylight, dusk, and darkness. Drawing on her marriage of three decades, she explains how the ongoing development of awareness and will has played a key role in deepening their relationship. Ilene addresses many issues, including finances, stepchildren, and health crises, but it is especially moving when she shares how she prepares for her husband’s death and supports him in this process.
Ilene Val-Essen, PhD, MFT Bio:
Ilene Val-Essen, PhD, MFT, has been in private practice since 1975. An innovator in the field of parent education, she blends Western psychology with Eastern philosophy, bringing a unique voice to the global community. Her first book, Bring Out the Best in Your Child and Your Selfhttps://www.bringoutthebest.com/, helps parents create a family environment based on mutual respect. Parenting with Wisdom and Compassion supports parents to reach toward their higher self during the roughest of times, when understanding and an open heart are key. She contributed a chapter on “Transforming Family Life Through Psychosynthesis Coaching” to The Call of Self: Psychosynthesis Life Coaching (Ed. D. Firman, Synthesis Center Press, Amherst, 2018). Through her Quality Parenting program, which has been translated into Spanish, Dutch, and Swedish, parents discover that family life can be so much easier and deeply rewarding. Ilene lives in Culver City, California, near her children and grandsons. Her website is bringoutthebest.com
Ed Schuman Bio:
Ed Schuman worked as a documentary film producer, writer, and director, creating award-winning PBS documentaries, including one that aired on Frontline. He also earned numerous international awards, receiving the prestigious Columbia DuPont Award for Broadcast Journalism and an Emmy nomination. He co-founded Dimension Films, where he developed award-winning educational films. Decades later, he co-founded Success Stories, L.L.C., focusing on programs that prepared prisoners for release. When retired, he used his creative energy to dive into writing and performing comedy songs, developing his improv skills at Second City, and advancing his photography hobby.
Chapter Nine: Emmanuel and Urs
Synthesis and Service: Living Our Gifts in a Same-Sex Partnership: In this thought-provoking chapter, Urs presents his life partnership with Emmanuel as a kind of gay vocation, a chosen purpose, of offering love and support to others in lieu of raising children. Urs writes about their marriage, intertwined with their life of service to others, using knowledge of Psychosynthesis and their own inner gifts.
Urs Mattmann, Acc MBACP, reg. Social worker SWE Bio:
Urs Mattmann, Acc MBACP, reg. Social worker SWE, is a counselor/psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and spiritual director. After studying business and theology, he graduated as a social worker in 1988. From 1997 to 2002, he trained as a Psychosynthesis therapist in Switzerland, before moving with his partner to London in 2005. He has since had a small private practice (www.ursmattmann.com), while working in the drug and alcohol sector until 2020.
In Switzerland, he had worked in the mental health sector. In recent years he has specialized in trauma work using Emotional Freedom Technique, Somatic Experiencing and EMDR. Urs is currently employed by a Centre for Health and Pastoral Care in North Yorkshire: (www.holyroodhouse.org.uk). He has contributed to several books and published one on spirituality for gays and lesbians. In the 1980s and 1990s he was very active in the Christian L.G.B. movement. Strongly interested in faith and spirituality, he has facilitated retreats for years.
Emmanuel Grassi Bio:
Emmanuel Grassi has been the partner of Urs since 1986. He originally trained for the Swiss Railways as a teenager and worked there for 20 years before becoming a support worker for people in need (mental health, learning disabilities) in Switzerland. In 2005, he left with Urs for England, where he worked until his retirement in the learning disabilities sector in London. He is currently a volunteer at Holy Rood House in North Yorkshire. Since the 1990s, he has engaged in Ikebana (Ikenobo school/meditative Japanese flower arranging) and gained diplomas, having trained at the Ikenobo Center in Kyoto, Japan. He loves cooking.
Chapter Ten: Amy and Randall
Marriage as a Crucible of Transformation: The wedding vows that Amy and her husband Randall wrote at the start of their journey together serve as a powerful touchstone in this chapter. In their story of shared international adventures, she shows how the concept of marriage as a “spiritual grinding stone” encouraged them to embrace the personal and interpersonal growth that marriage demands. Recognizing the presence of the soul of the relationship, they learned to trust this sacred container that guided and supported their journey together.
Amy Spalding-Fecher, MA, BCC Bio:
Amy Spalding-Fecher, MA, BCC, is the Director of Synthesis Northeast, a Psychosynthesis coach-training program in New England, a lead trainer at the Psychospiritual Institute, and a board-certified coach. Amy trained and practiced as an architect before she studied Psychosynthesis. She has worked with individuals and groups both locally and in South Africa, where she lived for 16 years. She weaves decades of meditation practice, dharma study, mindful self-compassion, and transformative art practices into her work. Amy trained in Psychosynthesis with Didi Firman and studied women’s spirituality and circle work with Anne Yeomans. She has been mentored by Thomas Yeomans in Psychosynthesis, spiritual psychology and the embodiment of the soul process in everyday life. When not teaching or coaching, Amy loves hiking, yoga, kayaking and being in nature. She has traveled extensively with her husband of 28 years and their two daughters, including seven months driving overland in an outfitted Land Cruiser from Cape Town to London.
Randall Spalding-Fecher, PhD Bio:
Randall Spalding-Fecher, PhD, has worked in almost 30 countries over the last 25 years on using carbon markets and climate finance to support development in low-income countries. After leading a research group at the University of Cape Town, he moved to development consulting for a Norwegian company focused on climate policy, market mechanisms and development. More recently, he has been supporting multiple initiatives to bring greater integrity and quality to the voluntary carbon markets. He completed the Psychosynthesis coach training with Synthesis Northeast in 2020 and is a long-time meditation practitioner. Randall lives in Amherst, MA, with his wonderful wife, Amy, and enjoys playing classical piano, hiking, biking, spending time with his family and drinking oat milk lattes.
Chapter Eleven: Tom and Anne
Learning To Love: From 1964 to Yesterday Afternoon: Anne tells the rich story of her over-50-year marriage to Tom, which spans many decades of deep cultural shifts. Their relationship survived her transformation from traditional wife to feminist partner as they used Psychosynthesis to navigate challenging emotional and spiritual waters. Now in their 80s, they continue to be creative through teaching, mentoring, and writing. The peaceful contentment of their current life is inspiring, and Anne’s commentary about the spiritual journey of relationship is especially beautiful.
Anne Yeomans, MA, LMHC Bio:
Anne Yeomans, MA, LMHC, has been a psychotherapist and a group facilitator for more than fifty years. She trained in Psychosynthesis in Palo Alto and San Francisco (1971-1975), and in 1972, she and her husband Tom studied with its founder Roberto Assagioli in Florence, Italy. They were teachers and trainers in Psychosynthesis for many years. Anne has also taught workshops and courses on non-violence, the process of reconciliation, healing dialogue, and women’s spirituality. The principles of Psychosynthesis underlie all her work. In the 1990s, she began to facilitate women’s groups and women’s circles, and co-founded The Women’s Well in Concord, MA (womenswell.org). She has facilitated women’s circles in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and most recently in Russia. Currently, she lives in Colrain, Massachusetts, with her husband Tom. They have two grown sons and five grandchildren. She is also a poet and a social activist.
Contributors
Preface: Molly Young Brown
Molly Young Brown, MA, MDiv, lives in Mt Shasta, CA with her husband Jim. They are parents of two sons, Greg and Cassidy, and grandparents of Ben and Summer. Molly and Jim studied with Roberto Assagioli in 1973. As an educator, writer, and mentor/life coach, Molly draws on psychosynthesis, ecopsychology, and the Work That Reconnects. She co-directs Spiral Journey, a Work That Reconnects facilitator development program, edits Deep Times: A Journal of the Work That Reconnects, and runs a small publishing company, Psychosynthesis Press. Website: MollyYoungBrown.com
Forward: Thomas Yeomans, PhD
Psychosynthesis and its Relevance to the Couple’s Journey: Thomas Yeomans, PhD, is the founder and director of the Concord Institute and co-founder, with Russian colleagues, of the International School, a post-graduate training institute in St. Petersburg, Russia. He completed training in Psychosynthesis in 1974, which included work with Roberto Assagioli in Florence, Italy, and since then he has worked as a psychotherapist, teacher, and trainer of professionals in Psychosynthesis and Spiritual Psychology throughout North America and in Europe and Russia and, more recently, as a spiritual guide/mentor. He has published writing on Psychosynthesis and Spiritual Psychology, as well as three volumes of poetry and a children’s book. He is also a painter and musician. Currently, he consults with practitioners in the fields of Psychosynthesis and Spiritual Psychology and teaches occasional training seminars in Soul Process Work. Website concordinstitute.org
Post Script: Piero Ferrucci
Put Your Marriage Among the Stars: Piero Ferrucci was born in Turin, Italy, in 1946. He graduated in philosophy at the Università di Torino, then did didactic training with Roberto Assagioli, the founder of Psychosynthesis. He is a registered psychotherapist, and a trainer at the Società di Psicosintesi Terapeutica in Florence. He has written several books, translated into various languages, among which are Inevitable Grace, Beauty and the Soul, and Your Inner Will, and has edited The Human Situation (lectures by Aldous Huxley). He lives and works in Florence, Italy.