I’ve learned, during my work over the past few years, that most people in the gifted community are unaware of the origins of the overexcitabilities as disintegrative elements within the theory of positive disintegration. One of my goals with this column is to introduce the aspects of Dabrowski’s theory that haven’t been explored in the gifted field.
It’s an honor to have this opportunity to share my work about Dabrowski’s theory of positive disintegration (TPD) in the first issue of GHF Dialogue. TPD is a theory of human development and personality that was created by Kazimierz Dabrowski, a Polish psychiatrist and psychologist. It’s a complex developmental theory, and a full explanation is beyond the scope of this column, but there are some recommended readings at the end of this piece.
Dabrowski’s theory was introduced to the field of gifted education in 1979 by Michael M. Piechowski, in a chapter with research on overexcitabilities (OEs). Piechowski, who was also from Poland, worked with Dabrowski on a large-scale research project in Canada, and also helped him produce four books in the early 1970s. Their collaboration lasted for eight years (1967-1975), and during that time, Piechowski returned to graduate school to pursue a second doctorate in counseling psychology.
When Piechowski brought the OEs to the gifted community, he was hoping to reframe characteristics that are often seen as problematic, such as emotional intensity, as positive indicators for development. Not all gifted individuals experience heightened intensity from overexcitabilities (OEs), but for those of us who do, it creates challenges that can lead to what Dabrowski called positive disintegration. Without an understanding of the theory of positive disintegration, it’s easy to consider disintegration to be evidence of pathology or mental illness, because the process is difficult and painful.
The overexcitabilities didn’t resonate for me at first, because I couldn’t accept that there was a positive way to view those aspects of myself. For instance, my experience of emotional overexcitability had included an early obsession with death, as well as suicidal ideation and attempts, and clinically significant periods of anxiety and depression throughout adolescence and adulthood. How was that a good thing?
I first discovered TPD while I was working on a personal research project in early 2014. While searching for literature on giftedness and symptoms of mental illness, I began to discover papers and chapters by Michael Piechowski. Reading his work caused me to feel distress, because to accept what he was saying would mean I had to rethink my own history.
It was never my intention to discover an alternative perspective to mental illness. By the time I was in my forties, I had learned to live with the diagnoses given to me during my twenties—bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and ADHD—and I wasn’t looking to embrace some new version of myself. Before Dabrowski, I had no framework for understanding my past, and I struggled to make sense of being both gifted and mentally ill.
In 2016, I wrote a paper about my experiences as twice-exceptional, describing my journey through mental health treatment and misdiagnosis as a gifted individual. I submitted the paper to Advanced Development, a peer-reviewed journal about adult giftedness, and I still recall the shock I felt when I received an email with editorial feedback from Michael Piechowski. I never could have predicted the changes that would take place in my life thanks to meeting Michael and working with him to revise that paper.
At the time, I was a doctoral student, and I knew that it was a special opportunity to have the chance to work with Michael. He graciously offered to answer my questions, and I began my investigation into TPD. First, I read all of Michael’s work, and then I read Dabrowski’s. The deeper I dug into the theory, the more my life made sense, and I began to realize why the theory of positive disintegration has made such an impact on the lives of gifted individuals.
During this time, I was still going to the psychiatrist who I had seen prior to studying TPD and who knew me as someone with bipolar disorder; with them, I also reexamined my psychological history. After all this reexamination, I came to many new understandings about myself. I didn’t resolve every question that I had, but I no longer considered myself mentally ill.
As I continued asking questions, and learning about TPD, I was also developing a relationship with Michael, and he became a friend and mentor. We worked together on my dissertation while I was analyzing data and writing up the final chapters, and once my degree was conferred, I was free to begin working on papers about the theory.
In addition to getting to know Michael, I’ve also been working at the Institute for the Study of Advanced Development as the director of qualitative research, and it has been an incredible experience. Often I’ve wished that there was a place to share some of what I’m learning from these people, who have studied aspects of giftedness other than achievement, and I’m hopeful that GHF Dialogue will be that place.
I’ve learned, during my work over the past few years, that most people in the gifted community are unaware of the origins of the overexcitabilities as disintegrative elements within the theory of positive disintegration. One of my goals with this column is to introduce the aspects of Dabrowski’s theory that haven’t been explored in the gifted field.
In the next issue of GHF Dialogue, I hope to clear up one of the major recent misunderstandings about the OEs, which is that they are not the same as openness to experience. Beyond that topic, I plan to share more about the process of positive disintegration and introduce elements of the theory that are less well known, such as the dynamisms. There are endless nuances to Dabrowski’s work, and I look forward to helping make sense of multilevelness, a foundational construct in TPD, for a wider audience.
Recommended Reading About Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration:
Ackerman, C. M. “The essential elements of Dąbrowski’s theory of positive disintegration and how they are connected.” Roeper Review 31, no. 2, (2009): 81-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/02783190902737657
Daniels, S., and M.M. Piechowski, eds. Living with Intensity: Understanding the Sensitivity, Excitability, and Emotional Development of Gifted Children, Adolescents, and Adults. Scottsdale: Great Potential Press, 2009.
Dabrowksi, Kazimierz, MD, PhD. Positive Disintegration. Maurice Bassett, 2017.
Mendaglio, S., ed. Dabrowski’s Theory of Positive Disintegration. Scottsdale: Great Potential Press, 2008.
Piechowski, M. M. “Mellow Out,” They Say. If I Only Could: Intensities and Sensitivities of the Young and Bright, 2nd ed. Unionville: Royal Fireworks Press, 2013.
Tillier, W. Personality Development Through Positive Disintegration. Anna Maria: Maurice Bassett, 2018.
Wells, C. “The Primary Importance of the Inner Experience of Giftedness.” Advanced Development 16, (2017): 95-113. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311821895_The_Primary_Importance_of_the_Inner_Experience_of_Giftedness
Leave a Reply