Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board

Voicelessness and Emotional Survival => Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board => Topic started by: Leah on July 07, 2008, 09:33:19 AM

Title: Hierarchy of Needs --- basic needs --- for Emotional health
Post by: Leah on July 07, 2008, 09:33:19 AM

I started out (unconciously initially) with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and I have gone full circle (or around in circles!) and seemingly, I have returned to whence I started, as I think - Emotional Health and Well Being is when our basic needs are met, within, ones life - whilst living [or being present] in a healthy environment.               Leah x



Hierarchy of basic Needs -- basic needs that need to be met -- to be emotionally healthy

To get our needs met, God has gifted us our very own internal guidance programme — this, together with our needs. 

We come into the world with an instinctive knowledge of what we need and with a set of inner resources that can help us get our needs met, provided we use them properly and are living in a healthy environment.

In terms of the history of where our knowledge about human needs comes from, there has been a distinguished cast of contributors, going right back to ancient times. More recently William James, Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler explored human needs, and there was an outstanding contribution by Abraham Maslow, the pioneer of humanistic psychology, who first talked about a hierarchy of needs.


It was Abraham Maslow who introduced the idea that, until basic needs are met, people can't engage with questions of meaning and spirituality — what he calls self-actualization.


> 1970's adapted hierarchy of needs model, including cognitive and aesthetic needs:


1. Biological and Physiological needs - air, food, drink, shelter, warmth, sex, sleep.

2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, limits, stability.

3. Belongingness and Love needs - family, affection, relationships, community, work groups.

4. Esteem needs - self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others.

5. Cognitive needs - desire for knowledge, meaning, need to know and understand.

6. Aesthetic needs - appreciation and search for beauty, balance.

7. Self-Actualization needs - morality, creativity, spontinaity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs)

Title: Re: Hierarchy of Needs --- basic needs --- for Emotional health
Post by: Leah on July 07, 2008, 10:20:45 AM

Cognitive needs

Cognitive needs are the expression of the natural human need to learn, explore, discover and create - to get a better understanding of the world around them.


Aesthetic needs

Based on Maslow's beliefs, it is stated in the hierarchy humans need beautiful imagery or something new and aesthetically pleasing to continue up towards Self-Actualization.

Humans need to refresh themselves in the presence and beauty of nature while carefully absorbing and observing their surroundings to extract the beauty the world has to offer.

Title: Re: Hierarchy of Needs --- basic needs --- for Emotional health
Post by: Leah on July 07, 2008, 10:24:31 AM

Maslow writes the following of self-actualizing people:

   They embrace the facts and realities of the world (including themselves) rather than denying or avoiding them.
   They are spontaneous in their ideas and actions.
   They are creative.
   They are interested in solving problems; this often includes the problems of others.   Solving these problems is often a key focus in their lives.
   They feel a closeness to other people, and generally appreciate life.
   They have a system of morality that is fully internalized and independent of external authority.
   They have discernment and are able to view all things in an objective manner.

To further confound the problem of understanding motivation, Maslow points out that motives are not always conscious.  In the average person, he believes, they are more often unconscious than conscious — showing the influence on his thinking of Freudian psychologists who have long been concerned with the hidden causes of human behavior.

In Maslow's theory, then, human needs are arranged in a hierarchy of importance. Needs emerge only when higher-priority needs have been satisfied. By the same token, satisfied needs no longer influence behavior. This point seems worth stressing to managers and administrators, who often mistakenly assume that money and other tangible incentives are the only cures for morale and productivity problems. It may be, however, that the need to participate, to be recognized, to be creative, and to experience a sense of worth are better motivators in an affluent society, where many have already achieved an acceptable measure of freedom from hunger and threats to security and personal safety, and are now driven by higher-order psychological needs.

In short, self-actualization is reaching one's fullest potential.

However, to further clarify “There are certain conditions which are immediate prerequisites for the basic need satisfactions.”

“Such conditions as  freedom to speak, freedom to do what one wishes so long as no harm is done to others, freedom to express one's self, freedom to investigate and seek for information,  freedom to defend one's self, justice, fairness, honesty, orderliness in the group,  are examples of such preconditions for basic need satisfactions.”  


According to Maslow, the tendencies of self-actualizing people are as follows:

1. Awareness

efficient perception of reality
freshness of appreciation
peak experiences
ethical awareness


2. Honesty

philosophical sense of humour
social interest
deep interpersonal relationships
democratic character structure


3. Freedom

need for solitude
autonomous, independent
creativity, originality
spontaneous


4. Trust

problem centered
acceptance of self, others, nature
resistance to enculturation - identity with humanity


Maslow discovered that healthy individuals are motivated toward what he termed self-actualization, and noted that Self-actualizing people had strikingly similar characteristics.

Title: Basic Needs in ALL relationships
Post by: Leah on July 07, 2008, 12:04:14 PM

 Basic Needs in ALL Relationships



Basic Needs in ALL Human Interactions

If you have been involved in emotionally abusive relationships, you may not have a clear idea of what a healthy relationship is like. Evna (1992) suggests the following as basic needs:

The need for good will from the others.
The need for emotional support.
The need to be heard by the other and to be responded to with respect and acceptance
The need to have your own view, even if others have a different view.
The need to have your feelings and experience acknowledged as real.
The need to receive a sincere apology for any jokes or actions you find offensive. (likewise, the need to offer a sincere apology)
The need for clear, honest and informative answers to questions about what affects you.
The need for freedom from accusation, interrogation and blame.
The need to live free from criticism and judgment.
The need to have your work and your interests respected.
The need for encouragement.
The need for freedom from emotional and physical threat.
The need for freedom from from angry outburst and rage.
The need for freedom from labels which devalue you.
The need to be respectfully asked rather than ordered.
The need to have your final decisions accepted.
The need for privacy at times.