Diploma in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy

On completion of the Integration Year, students may embark on the further four year vocational clinical training to become a registered psychotherapist. There is a shift in focus from the predominantly personal application of psychosynthesis to how it may be applied within a clinical setting. The relevant national standards, ethics and criteria for psychotherapists inform the professional context of the course.

The four year Clinical Training is divided into two parts:

Years 2 and 3 cover the first 14 modules, representing 14 weekends. The Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (Psychosynthesis) is awarded on successful completion of Years 2 and 3. This qualification may assist participants to establish themselves as a Psychosynthesis practitioner (a therapeutically focused counsellor). However, it is not currently recognised by any professional body representing counsellors.

Years 4 and 5 cover modules 15 to 24. Successful students will be awarded the Diploma in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy. This qualification allows students to apply for registration with PBANZ and to practice as a psychotherapist. It also allows application for full clinical membership of APANZ.

Course Modules

• Module 1 – The Guiding Constellation of Transpersonal Qualities
  This opening module establishes the relational and cultural foundation of the training. Students are introduced to each other, the programme, and key psychosynthesis themes. Using Te Pae Māhutonga (the Southern Cross constellation) as a guiding framework, participants explore personal and professional identity, meaning-making, and alignment with transpersonal qualities. Emphasis is placed on building a safe learning container, fostering connection, and orienting to the transcultural and symbolic dimensions that will underpin the entire training journey.
•  Module 2 – The Pattern That Connects
  This module introduces systems thinking and the ecology of being, highlighting interconnectedness across personal, relational, and global contexts. Drawing parallels between psychosynthesis and systems theory, it explores how individuals exist within dynamic networks. Students examine themes such as unity in multiplicity, paradox, and self–other relationships, while also addressing the impact of shame on learning and integration. The module lays a conceptual foundation for holistic, relational thinking throughout the training.
•  Module 3 – Context and Flow
  Focusing on the therapeutic encounter, this module develops the practitioner’s capacity for presence, attunement, and embodied awareness. Students learn to engage their felt sense, cultivate compassion and authenticity, and recognise transpersonal dimensions within the client relationship. Emphasis is placed on trusting the process, aligning with the I-Self, and tracking will as it emerges in session. This module runs throughout the training, supporting ongoing development of relational depth and intuitive practice.
•  Module 4 – Mind: Constructs and Paradox
  This module explores how mental constructs shape perception, behaviour, and relational patterns. Students develop awareness of belief systems and subpersonalities, learning how these can both support and limit expression. Through practices such as disidentification and sensory awareness, participants cultivate flexibility and creativity in thinking. The module emphasises paradox, alignment, and surrender, encouraging a move beyond rigid cognition toward a more integrated and responsive engagement with experience.
•  Module 5 – Colonisation and the Imperialist Shadow
  This module examines the psychological and relational impacts of colonisation at personal, collective, and intergenerational levels. Students explore how embedded cultural assumptions shape therapeutic dynamics and identity formation. Emphasis is placed on addressing shame, privilege, and trauma, while fostering curiosity, acceptance, and intersubjectivity. The module supports practitioners in creating culturally safe spaces and engaging in processes of decolonisation that promote healing, connection, and shared humanity.
•  Module 6 – How Are We Enrolled in Emergence?
  This module explores the therapeutic process from presenting issues to deeper patterns of meaning and development. Students learn to recognise how clients express will, maintain behavioural cycles, and construct identity. Emphasis is placed on trust, presence, and working with uncertainty as part of a co-creative process. Practitioners are encouraged to support clients in expanding their sense of self and potential, while remaining grounded in immediate experience and embodied awareness.
•  Module 7 – Creativity: Willing the World That Wills
  This module centres on the concept of Will as a core organising and transformative force in psychosynthesis. Students explore how individuals actively shape their lives and contexts through conscious engagement. Drawing on existential and transpersonal perspectives, the module examines the relationship between self and world, part and whole. Practical tools are introduced to track and work with will in therapeutic settings, supporting integration, agency, and creative participation in life.
•  Module 8 – Moving Through Trauma
  This module understands trauma as a disruption to natural psychological and evolutionary flow. Drawing on key trauma theories, it explores experiences of powerlessness, fragmentation, and disconnection. Therapy is framed as a process of completing interrupted experiences and releasing defences, allowing for the integration of pain and restoration of trust. Students develop skills in working with identification, bifocal awareness, and self/Self dynamics to support healing and reconnection.
•  Module 9 – Development, Complexity and Evolution
  This module examines psychotherapeutic change as an ongoing, complex, and emergent process. Students explore how transformation involves holding paradox, embracing uncertainty, and recognising evolving patterns of being. The role of the therapist includes maintaining presence, supporting stability, and engaging with energetic shifts. Ethical considerations such as humility, imperfection, and the integration of personal suffering are emphasised, alongside critical reflection on concepts like spiritual bypass and the wounded healer.
•  Module 10 – Adverse Childhood Experiences and Developmental Trauma
  Building on earlier trauma work, this module focuses on how early life experiences shape development across the lifespan. Students explore attachment, family dynamics, and subconscious processes, alongside the role of subpersonalities and constructs. Emphasis is placed on understanding long-term impacts of trauma and supporting healing through awareness, integration, and disidentification. The module deepens practitioners’ ability to work with developmental wounds in a nuanced and compassionate way.
• Module 11 – Exploring Family Systems: Inside and Out
  This module examines how family-of-origin relationships shape identity, meaning-making, and behavioural patterns. Students explore intergenerational influences and subconscious dynamics that inform current functioning. Through psychosynthesis concepts such as identification and disidentification, participants gain insight into how these patterns can be recognised and transformed. The module supports practitioners in understanding both internal and relational systems, enhancing their ability to work with clients’ family-based narratives.
•  Module 12 – The Eyes of the Heart
  This module introduces imaginative and symbolic methods in therapy, including dreams, visualisation, and creative expression. Drawing on neuroscience and biology, it explores how these approaches access deeper layers of consciousness. Students learn techniques for engaging sub- and supraliminal material, while maintaining grounding and ethical awareness. The module emphasises symbolism, synchronicity, and poetic insight, while also recognising when such approaches may be contraindicated in clinical practice.
•  Module 13 – Altered States and Addiction
  This module addresses addiction and altered states through a psychosynthesis lens. Students explore the psychological, emotional, and behavioural dimensions of dependency, alongside trauma influences. The module introduces key concepts from addiction treatment, including harm reduction, abstinence, and relapse prevention. Emphasis is placed on working with will, subconscious processes, and behavioural patterns, enabling practitioners to support clients in moving toward greater freedom and integration.
•  Module 14 – The Fifth Force, Te Ao Māori and Worlds Beyond the Hero’s Journey
  This module explores cultural, ecological, and spiritual dimensions of therapeutic work, with a focus on the perspectives of Te Ao Māori (Māori culture and values). It emphasises interconnectedness, collective responsibility, and the relational nature of selfhood. Students engage with post-colonial healing and culturally responsive practice, while rethinking individualistic models like the Hero’s Journey. The module culminates in a return to wholeness and belonging, integrating learning into a grounded sense of place and identity.
•  Module 15 – The Wounded Healer
  This module explores the archetype of the wounded healer through the myth of Chiron. It reframes wounds not as pathology but as sources of relational depth and wisdom. Students examine how personal suffering informs therapeutic presence, fostering humility and reciprocity. The module challenges traditional notions of expertise and detachment, encouraging therapists to embrace paradox and engage authentically with clients, recognising healing as an ongoing, shared process.
•  Module 16 – Imagination, Purpose and Communities of Belonging
  This module connects personal purpose with broader communities of belonging and meaning. Students explore transpersonal qualities in relation to values, identity, and participation in a wider relational field. Drawing on ecological and spiritual perspectives, it emphasises the integration of universal aspirations with present-moment experience. The module supports alignment with an evolving sense of purpose, grounded in both individuality and interconnectedness.
•  Module 17 – The Energy Body
  This module introduces the chakra system as a framework for understanding human development across physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions. Students explore its application in therapy and group work, including diagnostic and process-oriented uses. The module also examines the integration and potential tensions between this model and psychosynthesis concepts, supporting embodied awareness and insight into relational and developmental dynamics.
•  Module 18 – Sexuality and Spirituality: The Materialisation of Intimacy
  This module explores the relationship between erotic energy and spiritual development. Students examine how desire can be both creative and challenging within therapeutic contexts. Drawing on myth and psychosynthesis theory, the module considers themes of dependence, interdependence, and relational patterns. It encourages practitioners to engage with sexuality ethically and reflectively, recognising its role as a powerful, integrating force in personal and therapeutic processes.
•  Module 19 – Meaning in Crisis and Crisis in Meaning
  This module examines how meaning-making shapes human experience, particularly in times of crisis. Integrating neuroscience, developmental theory, and existential perspectives, it explores the role of meaning in wellbeing and transformation. Students reflect on personal and collective narratives, including socio-cultural influences. The module emphasises the importance of facing uncertainty and breakdown as part of growth, supporting practitioners in guiding clients through profound transitions.
•  Module 20 – Family and Other Ecologies
  This module situates personal experience within intergenerational and ecological contexts. Students explore how family systems, ancestry, and broader social and environmental dynamics influence identity and suffering. Emphasis is placed on recognising patterns across time and contributing to healing within these systems. The module encourages practitioners to consider the wider ecological implications of client experiences and their role in supporting systemic awareness and transformation.
•  Module 21 – Narcissism and Mirrors of an Illusory Self
  This module explores narcissism as a distortion of relational and developmental processes. Students examine how unmet needs for recognition and belonging shape identity and behaviour. The module also considers cultural influences that reinforce individualism and disconnection. Through self-reflection, participants identify their own patterns and develop strategies for maintaining boundaries and wellbeing, supporting healthier relational dynamics in both personal and professional contexts.
• Module 22 – Noonday Demons and Traumatised Angels
  This module investigates the psychospiritual dimensions of suffering, including addiction, depression, and self-destructive behaviours. Students explore how trauma and meaning-making intersect, and how distortions arise when spiritual and psychological dimensions are misaligned. The module encourages critical reflection on pathologising versus mythologising client experiences, while also examining the therapist’s own relationship to these dynamics in their work.
•  Module 23 – Indra’s Net: Psychoenergetics
  This module explores consciousness, will, and interconnectedness through a psychoenergetic framework. Drawing on science, psychology, and philosophy, it examines how individuals exist as distinct yet inseparable parts of larger systems. Students consider implications for attachment, trust, and relational dynamics under stress. The module emphasises presence, ritual, and meaning-making within therapeutic and community contexts, supporting deeper engagement with complexity and wholeness.
• Module 24 – Transformation: Collective Vision Quest Weekend
  The final module offers a collective alternative to individualistic models of growth. Through a vision quest process, students integrate learning and engage in both personal and shared acts of will. Emphasis is placed on collaboration, collective leadership, and navigating group dynamics. The training culminates in a celebratory transition into the psychosynthesis community, marking a shift from student to practitioner within an ongoing field of learning and connection.