Interesting Quotes, Vol. 9

The Work of Inner Transformation from Michael M. Piechowski

Oct 05, 2023

Article voiceover

1×

0:00

-11:04

During podcast episode 43, a Quick Bite on Trauma and Disintegration, I mentioned a theme in Dr. Michael M. Piechowski’s writing on “the work of inner transformation.” Today’s post comes to you thanks to a retrieval I did in June 2022, when I had the urge to explore how he used the phrase “the work of inner” in his writing over time.

I didn’t include every instance because there was some repetition. I chose the ones I thought would be most worthwhile to readers.

This first excerpt is from a paper called “The Concept of Developmental Potential.” I love sharing it because I can still remember discovering these papers and seeing myself clearly in Michael’s words:

“In formulating the concept of developmental potential, Dabrowski laid particular stress on intellectual, emotional, and imaginational OEs. He saw them as necessary to personal growth characterized by moral questioning, existential concerns and self-judgment. In this type of development the individual engages in the work of inner psychic transformation. The effort of will to overcome one's lower propensities and to follow one's ideals is deliberate and extends over most of a person's life. It does not mean, of course, that the effort is necessarily steady and the progress uniformly upward. What it does mean is that the person does not give up the search even though he or she falls, slips back, yields to discouragement and self-doubt, but takes it up again and again.” (Piechowski, 1986, p. 193)

There’s some comfort in knowing that the path isn’t necessarily linear and that the ups and downs are part of the process.

The following excerpt is from a paper called “Giftedness for All Seasons: Inner Peace in a Time of War.” As I’ve mentioned before, it’s from the 1991 Wallace Symposium, and in that session, Michael talked about exemplars of advanced development he’s studied. In this passage, he’s talking about Etty Hillesum:

“There is no way to convey the richness, depth, and joyous affirmation of life that was Etty's even in the most depressing circumstances of a concentration camp. I wish to call attention to several striking features of her life and to her conviction that peace in the world will be possible only to the degree as each of us works toward inner peace.
Her first goal for therapy with Spier was to be able to give her life a "reasonable and satisfactory purpose" (p. 1). Her more distant goal was "to finish up as an adult, capable of helping other souls who are in trouble, and of creating some sort of clarity through my work for others, for that's what it's all about" (p. 9). Although modestly expressed, there is a sense of mission, of a goal outside herself, a characteristic of self-actualizing people; there is also an emphasis on being of service to others. She took up the work of inner psychic transformation. But it was hard going at first. She realized that fantasy and escapist dreams would not gain her peace and clarity: "It is right here, in this very place, in the here and now, that I must find them. But it is all so very terribly difficult and I feel so heavy-hearted" (p. 36). Nevertheless, she persevered and found the key principle, which is to live in the present. To be mature, to be an adult is one of the recurrent themes in her diary: growth toward self-control, responsibility, inner peace, overcoming ill-health and weakness of the body, and inner preparation for the more and more severe trials ahead.” (Piechowski, 1992, pp. 9-10)

I highly recommend reading Etty’s diaries. Whenever I read them, I feel energized and connected with her and her words. I plan to do Interesting Quotes posts about Etty and other exemplars in the future because their words bring the upper ranges of the theory of positive disintegration to life.

This next excerpt is from a chapter called “From William James to Maslow and Dabrowski: Excitability of Character and Self-Actualization,” and it’s in a book called Creative Intelligence.

I chose to include it because I think it’s important to remember that there are plenty of professionals who have not done the difficult work to develop themselves even though they work with clients:

“Multilevel development requires much introspection combined with the actual work of inner transformation… What has to take place in a person's development to make gaining advanced self-knowledge and wisdom possible? There are many highly introspective and insightful individuals—psychotherapists, counselors, and psychological writers endowed with exquisite knowledge of the workings of the human heart—who nevertheless are not highly developed; their self would not compare favorably with that of a moral exemplar.” (Piechowski, 2003, p. 294)

The following excerpt is from a paper called “We Are All Cells in the Body of Humanity,” and the title comes from a quote by Peace Pilgrim.

“What these remarkable people [exemplars, such as Etty Hillesum] have in common is a highly individual, but profound inner growth. They are inner seekers who realized on their own how to do the work of inner transformation. They affirm that everything we need is within us. This inner work can be viewed as the struggle between the lower and the higher self, between that which is narrowly self-centered and that which is devoted to realizing one's potential with compassion and consideration for others.” (Piechowski, 2010, p. 7)

Next, we have two excerpts from the second revised edition of Michael’s book, “Mellow Out,” They Say. If I Only Could: Intensities and Sensitivities of the Young and Bright.

You can expect more posts with quotes from Mellow Out because I’ve read the book multiple times and written many lines in my journals over the years. This is the best place to read and understand what overexcitability in the gifted can look like.

The first quote is from the section on introspective emotional growth:

“Self-acceptance is like taking stock of one's house to see what needs cleaning and what repairs need to be done. Everything has to be admitted into view. Only then can the work of inner transformation begin” (Piechowski, 2014a, pp. 237-238).

Next, we have an excerpt from the chapter on Personal Growth, and he talks about using psychosynthesis techniques to “aid the growth of the self”:

“One can identify specific elements of personal growth—that mysterious process of inner work that takes place in the hidden vault of one's psyche. I have divided these elements into forces, components of the self, and means. Forces move personal growth toward inner transformation, the profound and lasting changes in one's psyche and personality, such as getting rid of pesky habits, becoming more understanding of others, abandoning anger, and embracing kindness—getting rid of everything that is self-serving and inconsiderate toward fellow human beings and other living things. Components of the self are hidden strengths to be discovered and applied in personal growth. Practices are the means through which the work of inner transformation is accomplished.” (Piechowski, 2014a, p. 267)

Our final excerpt for today is from Michael’s paper “The Roots of Dabrowski’s Theory,” which is highly recommended for anyone who wants to know more about who influenced Dąbrowski and how the theory emerged from these ideas and his early work.

“Dabrowski’s concept of psychological tension is different from Janet’s because it grew out of his study of suicide and self-mutilation. No less significant was Dabrowski’s attraction to artists, musicians, and writers who lived with greater intensity at a higher pitch of emotions. He perceived a connection between emotional tension and intensity of experience that led him to identify five ways of processing tension—the five overexcitabilities. This idea emerged from his study of self-mutilation, in which he included not only harming oneself to appease inner tension, but also emotional tormenting oneself through self-recrimination and self-loathing that included feelings of guilt, though no guilt-worthy acts were committed (one can think of survivor guilt as an example, or feeling guilty for being affluent amidst poverty).
Another of Janet's concepts is “prise de conscience de soi même” (becoming self-aware), which he regarded as a law of mental development. To be conscious of something is to first feel it and then to be able to put into words (for example, I am scrupulous, I am obsessed by regrets, I have broken a taboo and lived). When it becomes a crisis, a transformation takes place in one's beliefs (Janet, 1929). Dabrowski often referred to this concept: “It is an act of illumination, as it were, an act of a sudden understanding of the sense, the causes, and purposes of one's own behavior. As a consequence of repeated acts of prise de conscience de soi-même arises the 'subject-object' dynamism” (Dabrowski, 1967, p. 104). This dynamism prepares the work of inner transformation.” (Piechowski, 2014b, p. 31)

You may recognize the above from an excerpt I included in my post about Michael last month. He shared that quote with me when we were first getting to know each other via email.

All of the works from this post are available in the Dabrowski Center’s Piechowski Archive.

That’s all I have time to share today because I’m preparing for my trip to Wisconsin tomorrow. I’ve been working on a post with follow-up thoughts from the Overcoming Self-Stigma series, and I plan to publish more quotes and another podcast episode from Madison once I’m done with the conference.

I’d love to hear what resonates with you from these excerpts I’ve shared on the work of inner transformation. Thank you for reading!

Interesting Quotes, Vol. 9

The Work of Inner Transformation from Michael M. Piechowski

Discussion about this post