Psychosynthesis is an approach to psychology that was developed by Roberto Assagioli. He compared psychosynthesis to the prevailing thinking of the day, contrasting psychosynthesis for example with existential psychology, but unlike the latter considered loneliness not to be "either ultimate or essential". Assagioli asserted that "the direct experience of the self, of pure self-awareness... - is true." Spiritual goals of "self-realization" and the "interindividual psychosynthesis" - of 'social integration...the harmonious integration of the individual into ever larger groups up to the "one humanity"' - were central to Assagioli's theory. Psychosynthesis was not intended to be a school of thought or an exclusive method but many conferences and publications had it as a central theme and centres were formed in Italy and the United States in the 1960s