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THEORY
Integration, values and mental health
Integration is commonly considered to be essential to the
healthy personality. It has been found in the definition of many
personality psychologists and plays a central role in health.
Over a long period of time integration has been identified as
having the following characteristics: (a) The presence of a
unifying life theme, (b) an overriding goal, giving meaning to
all of life, and (c) values that give direction to a goal
(Csikszentmihalyi, 2009, Levy, 1990, Lecky, 2010).
Allport (1968) is far and away the expert in the field of
meaning and values in psychology. He identifies different life
themes that can give meaning to life. The healthy person,
according to Allport, is the one who can give meaning to his life
through choosing one of these life themes. Everyone eventually
chooses a life theme that is meaningful to them. R. May
(personal communication, August 30, 1983) said that the
struggle between meaningfulness and a lack of meaning
represented the human being's single most difficult challenge.
METHODOLOGY
The therapeutic team
A therapeutic team was employed at each clinical site that had a
psychologist, social worker, and medical specialist. The site
was contacted to obtain permission to carry out the research.
There were two treatment groups, criminals and non-criminals.
All participants have an intake interview and then are placed in
their therapy groups. The results of a demographic
questionnaire show that 75% of the participants were White,
20% were African Americans and five percent were Asian.
American. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
(MMPI) was administered to all participants.
References:
Allport, G.W. (1968). The Person in Psychology. Boston:
Beacon Press.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Analyzing flow. Current Issues in
Human
Growth and Development, 27(10), pp 201-235.
Lecky, P. (2010, January 11). Meaning and health. The New
York
Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Levy, P. (1990). Conceptions of personality. New York:
Random House.
May, R. (1983). Personal communication. Saybrook Institute,
San
Francisco, California.

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THEORYIntegration, values and mental health Integration .docx

  • 1. THEORY Integration, values and mental health Integration is commonly considered to be essential to the healthy personality. It has been found in the definition of many personality psychologists and plays a central role in health. Over a long period of time integration has been identified as having the following characteristics: (a) The presence of a unifying life theme, (b) an overriding goal, giving meaning to all of life, and (c) values that give direction to a goal (Csikszentmihalyi, 2009, Levy, 1990, Lecky, 2010). Allport (1968) is far and away the expert in the field of meaning and values in psychology. He identifies different life themes that can give meaning to life. The healthy person, according to Allport, is the one who can give meaning to his life through choosing one of these life themes. Everyone eventually chooses a life theme that is meaningful to them. R. May (personal communication, August 30, 1983) said that the struggle between meaningfulness and a lack of meaning represented the human being's single most difficult challenge. METHODOLOGY The therapeutic team A therapeutic team was employed at each clinical site that had a psychologist, social worker, and medical specialist. The site was contacted to obtain permission to carry out the research. There were two treatment groups, criminals and non-criminals. All participants have an intake interview and then are placed in their therapy groups. The results of a demographic
  • 2. questionnaire show that 75% of the participants were White, 20% were African Americans and five percent were Asian. American. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was administered to all participants. References: Allport, G.W. (1968). The Person in Psychology. Boston: Beacon Press. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2009). Analyzing flow. Current Issues in Human Growth and Development, 27(10), pp 201-235. Lecky, P. (2010, January 11). Meaning and health. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com Levy, P. (1990). Conceptions of personality. New York: Random House. May, R. (1983). Personal communication. Saybrook Institute, San Francisco, California.