Friday, October 20, 2017
Maslow
I am wholeheartedly grateful to this compassionate observer of mankind. I believe that
his motivation theory and understanding the first stage of human needs is the very
reason we have the school lunch programs today for our impoverished children.
Innately, when I see a student enter in my class lacking motivation, I'd immediately ask
if they had eaten and if not, I would send them off to the cafeteria. If not it, I
further holistically reach into their comfort predicament. No doubt, the next stage;
safety, which today, our children are protected by the courts of law to ensure what
necessitates transition onto the next stages so that every child is fully equipped
to reach their highest potential for success. I feel that these are Maslow's greatest
contribution through his work from his theories on motivation.
I like that Maslow's belief of individuals is shaped by both biology and society and that
the two cannot be separated. Therefor, humans all have the possibilities to reach the
highest level toward self-actualization, the dimension into consciousness. It is reached
upon satisfaction of love and belongingness. It is the stage where one is fully aware of
themselves and how they deal with their lives with care for others versus the
unconscious, where the complexities of motivation is revealed. It is evident in how
some people just never are satisfied with meeting their most basic
needs, for example the 'Bernie Madoff' hedge-fund family. An extreme opposite of
all these Jewish intellectuals that are amazingly the forerunners in psychotherapy.
This early development in 1940's, Maslow's personality, humanistic, transpersonal
theory, which he appropriately called, the holistic-dynamic theory reverberates forever
in societal contributions to American children and our society. It
costs more today to jail individuals than to to school them, the very reason government
ensures the social and welfare programs for children.
It is valuable for me to list the 5 needs, in which Maslow has
shown evidence in it's complexities whereby needs may be satisfied in hierarchical
order, or, it may be reversed. The lower level needs, 1) physiological needs, 2) Safety
needs, to the higher level needs 3) Love and belonging needs, 4)Esteem needs, and
Highest level, 5) self-actualizing needs. It is important to know that it is in attaining the
first or lower needs, only then can one move onto to attain the next level. Upon
reaching the highest level, one has attained self-fulfillment. A complete lack of
satisfaction of above may lead to less than fulfilled individuals; inferiority complex,
personality defects, promiscuity, and psychological dilemmas.
Knowledge of Maslow's research on self-actualization, is important that I use methods
of cognitive therapy with tad of confrontational, existential therapy with 'what-if'
questioning, holistic therapy with empathic listening and rephrasing to empower people
needing help in these areas, 'to grow, to develop, to be capable' of reaching their
highest self-actualizing needs.
