Where there's a will...

there’s a way.

It’s true!

The human will is more than just an abstract psychological construct.

Farber (1966) has suggested that the important choices we make in life are not consciously experienced as choices, but can actually only be inferred after the event. This has been expanded upon* by use of the commonly held conception of the will in cognitive terms as a central executive system.

If you adopt this approach, then you can view the ‘wilful’ process as responsible for the filtering, organizing and integration of the vast array of feelings, thoughts, desires, needs, goals and expectations that constitute our personalities and inform our life choices.

However, due to the limitations of capacity of the conscious mind, the mind must surely, in part, operate on an unconscious level.

Have you ever been asked ‘how’ you managed an ongoing responsibility; or achieved something great, against the natural odds for success?

If so, it’s possible that you could not provide a full explanation.

Perhaps, like me you felt the urge to explore the phenomenon a little further.

PSI (personality systems interaction) theory** is an integrative framework that explains personality functioning in terms of the dynamic interplay between cognitive and affective mechanisms. It seeks to explain the nature of personality in terms of human creativity; intuition; sense of self; depression; and volitional action or wilful behaviour.

This functional approach offers a precise scientific language for existential concepts such as will, self and intuition. Thus addressing Jung’s assertion that ‘ scientific knowledge…in the eyes of modern man, counts as the only intellectual and spiritual authority’*** this approach can be seen as useful to help overcome the discomfort of rationalist and scientists with the metaphysical models of experience and existence.

Although far from a simple formula, the approach acknowledges the complexity of the workings of the human will; highlights the many ways in which healthy will may be frustrated; and seeks to help overcome the obstructive feelings of guilt, anxiety and alienation, without which we stand a much better chance of psychological growth.


*Greenberg, Koole and Pyszczynski ‘Handbook of Experimental Existential Psychology’

** Kuhl (2001) Motivation and personality: personality systems interactions

*** Jung (1957) The undiscovered self.