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What are the human givens?
When you hear someone talking about “the human givens approach” they are referring to a bio-psycho-social model of psychotherapy developed in the UK and Ireland.
The ramifications of the ideas incorporated in the phrase 'human givens' are of enormous consequence, not only for the long-term mental health of everyone, but also for education, social policies and law.
A definition of the human givens
The starting point to understanding these ramifications is a profound truth: that every living thing has to take nutriment from the environment to develop and sustain itself — something inanimate matter doesn't do.
We can easily identify each nutriment because Nature makes us feel a need for it — we are all born with essential physical and emotional needs. These needs have evolved over millions of years and, to help us fulfil them, Nature has also given us innate resources (or guidance systems).
It is because these needs and resources are our common biological inheritance, whatever our cultural background, that they are called ‘human givens’ — they are the givens of human nature.
Whenever our emotional needs are not met, or when our resources are being used incorrectly, we suffer considerable distress. And so do those around us.
Our emotional needs include:
- the need for security (a stable home life and safe territory to live in);
- the need for intimacy and friendship;
- the need to give and receive attention;
- the need for a sense of autonomy and control;
- the need to feel connected to others and be part of a wider community;
- the need to feel competent which comes from successful learning and effectively applying skills (the antidote to ‘low self-esteem’);
- the need for privacy (to reflect on and consolidate our experiences);
- and the need to be ‘stretched’ in what we do, from which comes our sense that life is meaningful.
Our tools and resources include:
- the ability to learn and add new knowledge to innate knowledge;
- a memory and the ability to forget;
- curiosity, imagination and the ability to problem solve;
- the ability to focus attention;
- the ability to understand through metaphor (pattern-matching);
- self-awareness (an observing self);
- resilience;
- the ability to empathise and connect with others;
- a dreaming brain that dearouses the autonomic nervous system every night thereby keeping us sane.
Achieving mental and physical health
Those whose needs are well met in the world do not have mental health problems and are better integrated with other people. Those whose needs are not fulfilled, for whatever reason, or whose innate resources are damaged or being used incorrectly, may suffer considerable distress or develop antisocial behaviours, as a means of coping, which can prove a burden to others or to society at large.
Effective ways to help people
The up-to-date, bio-psycho-social model taught by MindFields College leads the way in producing more effective counsellors and psychotherapists. Training in this approach enables professionals, such as GPs, counsellors, psychotherapists, psychiatrists and social workers, to focus more powerfully on helping clients identify unmet emotional needs in their lives and empower them to meet these needs by activating their own natural resources in new ways.
Other professions are adopting this organising idea and learning to tune in to our natural endowment in this way, and many fields are benefitting as a result. Simply understanding what people need to function well, and considering the needs of everyone involved in a situation, gives us a far-reaching yet simple way of assessing and improving all walks of life – from parenting to education, politics, diplomacy and running large organisations.
More information:
- Where did the human givens ideas come from?
- Why is the human givens approach to psychotherapy important?
The Human Givens journal frequently features cases detailing how the human givens approach is improving the work of professionals in a variety of fields. (Also includes interesting articles, research, news items, interviews, book reviews etc.)
Human Givens: A new approach to emotional health and clear thinking, by Joe Griffin and Ivan Tyrrell, and Ivan Tyrrell's article in the British Holistic Medical Association's Journal of Holistic Healthcare: Tuning in to our natural endowment: the human givens .
Online register of human givens therapists, visit: www.hgi.org.uk/register/
VIEW: All Seminars All Workshops The Human Givens Diploma Course
